Be green foliage, scattered villages, and the glistening surfaces of the river and lakes, give an extraordinary freshness and beauty to the scene. yond are the white buildings of Cairo, Boulak, and Rondah, backed by the lofty range of the Mokattam Hills, reflecting the bright rays of the sun; or, when the Nile is in flood, this blooming valley seems like a wide sea, with a few scattered islands and date-trees peering above its smooth surface, with Cairo and the Mokattam Hills forming its farthest shore. The pyramid of Cheops has long since been opened, and contains a small chamber, with a hollow sarcophagus, known as Pharaoh's tomb. Several other apartments and winding passages have lately been discovered in its recesses, and its whole internal structures have been revealed. The next adjoining pyramid is that of Cephrenes, opened by Belzoni, who discovered that he had been anticipated by Arab investigators several centuries earlier; but he still found in a sarcophagus some bones, which are believed to be those of a cow or an ox. It is about 456 feet high. The next is the pyramid of Mycerinus, and numerous pyramids are found further south, for upwards of 20 miles, at Abousir, Sakkarah, and Dashour; also in other parts of the country, and even in Nubia; but for what purpose, by whom, or when, such stupendous fabrics were erected, is quite unknown. About 300 paces from the second pyramid is the gigantic statue of the Sphinx. It was formerly covered to the neck with sand, but that having been cleared away, the length of the complete statue was found to be 125 feet from the fore part of the tail, with the paws projecting 50 feet forward. The breast, shoulders, and neck, are those of a human being-the body is that of a lion. The head-dress resembles an old-fashioned wig; the ears project considerably; the nose is broken; the face seems to have been painted red; the features are Nubian or ancient Egyptian, and the expression is peculiarly mild and benign. It has again been covered up by the sands to the neck. Thebes, the city of the "hundred gates," the original capital of Egypt, now exists only in ruins, which extend for many miles along the river on both sides. The period of its greatest splendor appears to have been be tween the 18th and 13th centuries before Christ. At that time it had a circuit of 30 miles, and contained many temples and palaces filled with immense wealth. Laid waste by Ptolemy Philadelphus, this ancient city never rose again. Among the ruins on the left bank of the Nile, is an immense hippodrome; the enormous palace of Rhamses-Meiamoun; the Amenophion, the ruins of which extend 1,800 feet in length, and contain more than 18 colossi, the smallest of which is 20 feet high; and near the bank of the river are two colossi, 61 feet high. The most northerly of the two is the celebrated Memnon, of which the Greek writers report that its lips uttered musical sounds, when struck by the rays of the rising sun. The head of the younger Memnon, weighing 12 tons, was carried off by Belzoni, and presented to the British Museum. Along the right bank of the Nile we find the remains of an immense palace, built by Amenophis-Memnon, of the 18 dynasty, and Sesostris the Great. In front of it were two obelisks of 72 and 75 feet high, each formed of a single block of rose-colored granite, and four colossal statues of the same material. But it is at Karnac that the magnificence of the ancient kings is exhibited. The grandeur of the buildings seems almost superhuman; so immense, so elaborate are their proportions and finish. Columns, obelisks, statues, courts, domes, there lie in confusion; and the greatest works of man-statues of kings, and sculptural pictures of their lives-are there mingling in the dust of centuries. On the left bank of the Nile are the tombs of the an cient kings, cut in the calcareous rock, at different levels, in a dry valley now called Biban-el-Moluk. They are all of extraordinary splendor. Several of these royal tombs contain on their walls numerous inscriptions, made by travellers of all ages, from the days of Pharaoh, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans, to the travellers of the middle ages and those of our own times. The "Necropolis" occupies an immense extent of ground, on the left bank of the Nile, where are found tombs of all the kinds in use among the ancient Egyptians. It is in those tombs that the finest mummies and the most ancient papyri are found. The village of Gournah partly consists of this Necropolis, and the Arabs live in the very tombs, whose former inhabitants they use for fuel! and the trade in antiquities has been, since 1817, the only occupation of this ferocious and brutalized tribe. 64 The place once occupied by Memphis, the second capital in point of antiquity, is now represented by the villages of Memf, Mitrahineh, and Bedreshein, not far from the great pyramids. Almost every part of it has disappeared. Its finest buildings were destroyed by Cambyses, and its ruin completed in the 7th century, A. D. Near Aboussir are the "catacombs" of birds, so famous in the narratives of travellers: they consist of extensive corridors, filled from top to bottom with little jars, containing the mummies of these animals. Sais, the capital of the last of the native kings before the Persian conquest, is now represented by a miserable village. All that now remains of its ancient splendor is two colossal mounds. Mataria, a small village six miles north-east of Cairo, contains the remains of the ancient Heliopolis," so called on account of its magnificent temples of the sun. It was one of the largest cities of ancient Egypt; but it was early despoiled, and its finest ornaments carried off to Greece and Rome, and more lately to adorn Constantinople. The ruins of the temple still exist, with the remains of a Sphinx, mentioned by Strabo, and a fine obelisk. The remains of a thousand cities and villages might be described; magnificent ruins covered in the sand, deserted buildings, where splendid apartments are still left entire, adorned with hieroglyphics and paintings; remains of temples; walls, forts, and other works of the Ptolemies and Pharaohs, and all the adjuncts of a high civilization; but we cannot pursue this subject further. The subject, indeed, is exhaustless; and to do so would lead us away from the design of the work before us. The contemplation of these remains of antiquity, scattered throughout Egypt, carries us back to a period of which history furnishes us with no other records than those derived from the monuments themselves. The temples, the palaces and the pyramids mark the spot where civilization began. The ruins of Egypt are in fact so many historical records, and the paintings on their walls tell of the wars and triumphs of the Egyptian sovereigns; and they are highly interesting from the insight which they afford into the steps by which men were led to the use of a written language. The archæologist, indeed, deciphers from these relics not only the history of their civilization, but also a glowing account of all the minutiae of their political, religious and domestic economy; and finds in them a key to a mysterious and forgotten people. Modern Egypt is divided into three grand districts, which have reference, however, more to the physical nature of the country than its political administration. These are, Lower, Middle and Upper Egypt. For administrative purposes, however, Egypt is divided into a number of provinces, which may be thus arranged: Chief Cities. (CAIRO, Boulak, Suez. Belbeys. Shibeh Tel-bastan. Mansourah, Tmay-el-emdid. Menhallet-el-Kebir. Tantah, Zefti. Melyg, Shybyn-el-küm. Negyleh, Terraneh, Wardan. Damanhour, Rahmanieh. Alexandria, Aboukir, El Keyt. Jyzeh, Mitrahineh. Benisouef, Boush, Feshn. Minieh-ibn-khasim. Monfalout, Sanabou. Siout, Aboulig, Sadfeh. Kennet, Cous, Keft, Erment The only cities of Egypt that will require notice are Cairo, Alexandria, and some few others, though there are many others, famous in several instances, the description of which might be interesting to the reader. KAHEIRAH or Misr-el-Kaherah, (the GRAND CAIRO of the Franks,) the capital of Egypt and largest city of Africa, is situated on a sandy plain about half a mile from the east bank of the Nile, in 30° N. latitude, about 25 miles above the point of the Delta. Seen from a distance on the west it is beautiful, and appears truly like a metropolis. Skirted by groves and gardens, its palace and citadel, and mosques and towers, blending with the pure sky, look as so many aerial edifices resting on a green base. Viewed on the other side from the citadel, Cairo appears a large crowded city, with grey, flat-roofed houses, and 130 minarets or mosques peering above the houses and trees. The city forms a parallelogram about two miles in length and one in breadth, surrounded with stone walls which are pierced by a number of fine gates; and a canal runs through the centre of the city which is filled with water during the inundation, but with green mud, emitting pestilential miasma, in the low season. The streets are narrow, winding and unpaved. The city is divided into 53 districts or wards, several of which are distinguished by their peculiar population, as the Jews', the Copts', the Greek and the Frank quarter. There are, however, several splendid squares, surrounded by magnificent buildings. The mosques are everywhere elegant, covered with arabesque and adorned with rich and graceful minarets. Four of these are particularly distinguished: that of "Touloun," a vast work of the ninth century, considered to be the finest Arab monument in Egypt, though now half ruined; the mosque of “ElHakim;" that of " El-Azhar," with a magnificent dome and college attached to it, where the most celebrated doctors of Islam are educated; and the mosque of "Sultan Hassan," the most remarkable for the size and height of its dome and of its two minarets, for the variety of its marble, and for its arabesque ornaments wrought in hard stone, wood and bronze. The citadel is located on the east side of the city on a spur of the Mokattam, which overlooks it and renders it incapable of defence. It contains a palace of the pasha, which is a magnificent building, and a new mosque, which is the finest in Cairo. The city is supposed to contain 36,000 inhabited houses, and about 250,000 inhabitants. There are 31 public baths, 1,200 coffeehouses, and several fine bazaars. Without the walls on the east are the tombs of the Mameluke kings, a dynasty of Circassians, who reigned from 1382 to 1517, when Egypt was added to the Turkish empire. Attached to each is a handsome mosque, schools and dwelling houses. Within a few years a good European library has been formed at Cairo, which is open to all strangers. Cairo was founded by Goher, a general of El-Moez, the first of the Fatemite Khalifs of Egypt, in A. D. 969, and four years afterwards it became the capital. About a mile from the city, in a fine park, is the splendid hospital and medical school of " Casser-eb-Ein." In the vicinity are FOSTAT or Old Cairo, on the eastern bank three miles south; BOULAK on the same bank north-west; the port of Cairo, containing a custom-house, bazaar, baths, printing-house, silk manufactories, &c., and 18,000 inhabitants. Opposite to Gyzeh is the small island of Rhoda, covered with fine gardens and containing at its southern point the famous "Nilometer," which is a graduated pillar in a well, showing the height of the annual inundation. ISKANDERYEH, or ALEXANDRIA, is situated at the north-west corner of Egypt, on the Mediterranean shore, in 31° 13′ N. latitude, and 29° 53′ E. longitude. The modern town occupies a neck of land which joins the island of Pharos to the continent. At the commencement of the present century Alexandria was a miserable village, but is now the naval station of the Pacha, and a great emporium of the trade of Egypt with Europe. The population amounts to 60,000 or 80,000, composed of every nation under heaven. The island of Pharos extends east and west on the north side of the city, and is bordered with reefs, especially on the west side. At its northern extremity is the castle, a large, square, lofty building, surmounted by a minaret displaying a light, occupying probably the site of the ancient Pharos, one of the seven wonders of the world. The castle has been strongly fortified, and occupies a small island joined to the larger one by an artificial dyke. This island and the isthmus, occupied by the city, forms two ports; the old port on the west and the new port on the east. The old port is at the end of an extensive roadstead, the entrance to which lies through a chain of rocks which stretches from Cape Marabout to the western end of the island. There are three channels into the road, the deepest of which will admit frigates. The port itself is sheltered from winds blowing between north-east and south-west, by the high coast of the island, and the anchorage is good. The new port has also a line of rocks across its entrance, and is more exposed and in some parts very shallow. Fifteen miles north-east of the city are the island, castle and bay of Aboukir, so renowned for the battle of the Nile, 1st August 1798, and the battle of Aboukir, 21st March, 1801. The ruins of the ancient city, founded by Alexander the Great, 322 B. C., lie to the south. It is now a shapeless mass of ruins, and interesting only to the historical antiquary. It contains, however, two granite obelisks, still very entire, which are commonly called Cleopatra's Needles. One only of these is now standing, which, including the pedestal, is 79 feet high. The ancient churches, the baths, excavations, necropolis, &c., are pointed out to the curious, but really little remains to bespeak it the site of a large and magnificent city. The only other towns in Lower Egypt deserving notice are, Rosetta, Damietta, Menhallet, Tantah, Semenhoud, Mansourah, El-Arish and Suez. These in themselves, however, are of little consequence, and all the importance they have attached to them results from their locations as points of traffic or halting-places for the Moslem pilgrims to and from Mecca. They are generally respectable towns, varying in population from 4,000 to 17,000 or 20,000. The only towns of modern importance in Upper and Middle Egypt are, Atfieh, Benisouef, Medinet-el-Faioum, Minieh, Ashmounein, Es-Siout, Akhmim, Girgeh, Kenneh, Esneh, Edfou, Assouan and Cosseir. None of these, however, need detain us long. ATFIEH, a town of 4,000 inhabitants, stands on the right bank of the Nile, in latitude 29° 23′ N., and is the capital of a province. BENISOUEF Contains several mosques, caravansaries, and is in general a handsome town. It is a great mart for the neighboring thickly peopled country. MEDINET, the chief town of Faioum, is a large and populous city, and occupies the site of the ancient Arsinoë. MINIEH, on the left bank of the Nile, 28° 8' N. latitude, " contains several mosques, straight clean streets, and rather neat shops, and appears to be more opulent and populous than any of the towns further down the river." (S. John, 1. 251.) Mr. Webster, however, says that "the village is small, with an immense number of tombs, covering many times the space itself occupies." Es-SiOUT, the capital of Upper Egypt, about a mile and a half from the left bank of the Nile, 27° 9′ N. latitude, is a place of considerable extent, nearly circular, and surrounded with spacious gardens in the midst of sand hills. It carries on a trade in linen cloths, earthenware, natron and opium. Population from 12,000 to 15,000. AKHMIN, 30 miles south, is a manufacturing town of 10,000 or 12,000 inhabitants, and contains the ruins of a temple and catacombs. GIRGEH, the old capital of Upper Egypt, is still a considerable place, and contains mosques, minarets, and a number of other fine buildings. The city stands in the midst of a very fertile country, and being surrounded by groves of date trees, has an aspect of exquisite beauty. KENNEH, on the right of the Nile, in 26° 10′ N. latitude, is famous for its manufacture of pottery, called "bardaks," made of porous clay, and in great request all over Egypt as water-coolers. It is also a depôt of commerce and station for pilgrims. ESNEH, the last great town that occurs in ascending the river on its left bank, in 25° 18' N. latitude, is a trading place and rendezvous of the Caravans of Dar-Fur and Sennaar. It manufactures cotton, pottery and shawls, and is famous for its great camel market or fair. It occupies the site of the ancient Latopolis. EDFOU is a small town of 2,000 inhabitants. ASSOUAN has considerable trade. COSSEIR is a port on the Red Sea and has a good trade, though the harbor is small and the anchorage none of the best. Cosseir is 119 miles from the Nile at Kenneh. The road passes over a perfectly level tract, passable by carriages. It is situated in 26° 6′ 59′′ N. latitude, and 34° 23′ 30′′ E. longitude, and between the two places there are eight wells. The history of Egypt is intimately connected with that of the whole ancient world. It was formerly the seat of learning and the sciences; and to its famous schools Greece and Rome are indebted for much of their literature. It has undergone many revolutions, and been possessed by almost every great empire. The Persians, the Arabs, the Greeks, and the Romans, have successively held it; and in latter times it has succumbed to the power of the Moslem. Egypt of ancient times, indeed, has passed away, and its present condition contrasts strongly with its former magnificence; and its 8,000,000 of inhabitants have dwindled down to one-fourth |