for the purpose, detained us on our couches until ten o'clock, when we repaired to the house to take an early dinner, and preparations for our departure filled up the remainder of the morning.

Nothing could exceed the polite and kind attentions of this Italian gentleman and his lady, during our short stay with them. Our desires were anticipated by them before they could be expressed, and we had, indeed, more difficulty in quitting their hospitable mansion, than is often felt at the separation of relatives and intimates of long acquaintance.

It was just past noon when we embarked, our boat having been provisioned for the remainder of the voyage, during our detention here, and all other causes of delay removed. We reached no farther, however, than the village of Kataah at sun-set, the wind having been light throughout the afternoon, and entirely declining with the fall of day, when we moored to the bank in the profoundest calm.

Antæopolis, November 12.

In the morning and evening walks which I had taken for exercise whenever we could quit the boat without occasioning her detention, the want of a dog and gun had been so often regretted, that I had procured both of Dr. Maruchi while at Siout, and we commenced our morning ramble with them along the banks of the river. Those who have not been in countries where sporting is never practised, and where game of every kind, from the unmolested freedom in which they live, are easily accessible, can form no idea of their abundance. After an excursion of little more than an hour, in which we had exhausted all our amunition, we returned literally laden with provisions enough for all the crew, among which were two hares, four wild geese, nine wild ducks, and turtles, wood pigeons, and larks sufficient to load two of the boatmen who had accompanied us. In short, as fast as our pieces could be charged and levelled, shots presented themselves both on the river and its banks, and my servant being provided with an Albanian musket, our discharges were kept up without intermission, and could not be otherwise than made with success. The whole of the birds, from the abundance and excellent quality of their food, are much fatter and thought to be superior in taste, to those of the same species in England, particularly the water fowl, who riot so luxuriously on the rich dainties which they find in the mud of the Nile. When we returned to the boat, however, we found that although we possessed all the requisite provender for an excellent dinner, those indispensable requisites, a good kitchen and a good cook were wanting; so that our fare, though profuse, was as simple in its mode of preparation as the savoury venison of the Patriarch, or the delicious chines of the Greek and Trojan heroes.

The lofty mountain of idolatry' began to hide its summit in the clouds, while the remainder of the Lybian range to the southward of it, retiring gradually from the river, left a wider plain of

cultivation on its western banks. The Arabian chain of hills being again renewed, approached the stream in the same proportion as the opposite one receded, and being still higher than the Mokalten which it had succeeded, gave bolder capes and sterner views than before. These were the only changes of scenery which occurred in our course until we reached the village of Gau Kebeer towards evening, where being detained by calm, we crossed the stream to the eastern bank, and moored there before the ruined portico of Antropolis.

Nothing can be imagined more beautiful than the situation of this ancient city, ranging itself along the shore of a romantic bay, formed by a sudden curve of the Nile, whose sacred stream washed its very foundation in its course. The superb temple occupied the western extremity of the whole, standing on the very point or angle of this curve, thus having both its southern and western sides to face the river, while its portico received in front the rays of the declining sun, forming altogether a grand oblong square of two hundred feet in length by one hundred in breath, and fifty in elevation. The northern angle of the edifice having been undermined by the powerful current of the Nile, has been swept away by its irresistible rapidity in rounding the elbow of the projecting bank on which it stood; two of the southern columns have also fallen down, and the whole of the body of the temple is destroyed. Some portion of its dilapidated walls are indeed yet remaining, all of them, however, disjointed and half buried in the soil; while fragments of the roof, of an enormous size, are lying in the spot where they must originally have fallen in, and are so mingled with date trees, briars, and wild grass, as to render the foundations difficult to be traced, and to give to the ruins an air of wildness highly picturesque.

The portico of this grand edifice was originally formed of eighteen columns, arranged in three rows of six each, fifteen of which are still standing, and the other three are fallen on the spot. Their elevation now above the soil is about forty feet, their bases being hidden in its yielding earth, and their diameters below the centre of the shaft are eight feet, being every where placed at equal distances from each other, except in the central avenue, which exceeds the others in breadth by about one half. The depth and elevation of the portico were thus the same, and each of them equal to half the extent of its front. Between the central columns of the first range, extending half way up their height, the remains of a door way were visible in the attachment of some of its fragments to the sides of the pillars, and between each of the other columns in the same range were smaller engagements of masonry, reaching up to about one third of the elevation of the shafts. This offered itself as so plain an explanation of the masonry by which the columns of the portico at Hermopolis were engaged at a similar distance from their bases, that I felt persuaded of its being intended to answer the Oriental Herald, Vol. 22.

S

same purpose as was visible here, namely, to close the front of the temple from intrusion, leaving only a central entrance, to which it is more than probable gates of brass might have been originally attached, by the aid of which the sacred edifice might be thus securely closed during the performance of worship within.

The shafts of the columns are richly ornamented with large hieroglyphic figures in separate compartments, bordered with small double lines, between which are again included series of smaller figures, as if explanatory of the principal design. The whole of these are cut in relief below the level of the surface, and notwithstanding the stiffness of the drapery in the large figures, some of the features are soft and expressive. The principal figures thus represented, seem to be persons in the act of offering religious gifts, and advancing toward each other for that purpose, in attitudes naturally defined. Among the smaller figures are the animals of the climate, symbols of the Deity, in the various elements of nature, and frequently repeated representations of the Bull and the Serpent. Then follows on the shaft a terminating ring which encircles the pillar at the top, and is formed of serpents erect, bearing globes of an egg-like form upon their head, the whole surmounted by a capital composed of the branches and leaves of the palm, resembling the one given in Denon's 29th plate, figure 1, which he characterises as being, perhaps, the most elegant of all the known capitals, and adds, that even in Europe, where it would not possess the same local interest as in Egypt, it might be selected as a beautiful decoration for some festive hall, an appropriation that it well deserves. The small portion of the frieze yet remaining shows a double row of hieroglyphics, surmounted by a sculptured moulding or torus, and the cornice exhibits double groups of figures, enclosed in oval or egg-like borders, and separated from each other by double flutings of perpendicular lines. On each side of the grand entrance appears a sort of pilaster, on which is sculptured a rod entwined by a serpent, like the wand of Esculapius, and in every direction are objects full of beautiful and expressive allusions. Painting has also aided her sister art by the embellishment which she has given to her labours; for here the fine green of the palm-leaved capital is still visible, and red and azure remain on many parts of the cornice, torus, and sculptured frieze.

The bull and the serpent were so frequently repeated throughout the ruins of this edifice, that there seemed but little reason to doubt its having been peculiarly dedicated to the worship of these symbolic deities, under the form of Apis, and the sacred Serpents of Isis, relative to which so many opposite conjectures have been hazarded by the learned, as to render their real nature and the intention of the Egyptians in the homage which they paid to them, as mysteriously obscure as even their own priests themselves could have wished. This, however, is certain, that they both held a dis-.

tinguished rank among the sacred animals; that peculiar honours were rendered to them in the temples expressly dedicated to their worship, and that their oracles were esteemed above all others.

'It is probable,' says Mr. Beloe, that Apis was not always considered as a deity: perhaps they regarded him as a symbol of Osiris, and it was from this that they were induced among the Egyptians to pay him veneration. Others assert confidently that he was the son of Osiris, and some have said that Osiris having been killed by Typhon, Isis enclosed his limbs in a heifer made of wood. Apis was sacred to the moon, as was the bull Mnevis to the sun. Others supposed that both were sacred to Osiris, who is the same with the sun. When he died, there was a universal mourning in Egypt. They sought for another, and having found him the mourning ended. The priests conducted him to Nilopolis, where they kept him forty days. They afterwards removed him in a magnificent vessel to Memphis, where he had an apartment ornamented with gold. During the forty days above mentioned, the women only were permitted to see him. They stood around him, and lifting up their garments, discovered to him what modesty forbids us to name.

"The homage paid to him was not confined to Egypt; many illustrious conquerors and princes of foreign nations, such as Alexander, Titus, and Adrian, bowed themselves before him. Larcher says that he was considered as sacred to the moon; but Porphyry expressly says, that he was considered as sacred to both sun and moon. The following passage is from Plutarch. The priests affirm that the moon sheds a generative light, with which, should a cow wanting the bull be struck, she conceives Apis, who bears the sign of that planet." Strabo says, that he was brought out from his apartment to gratify the curiosity of strangers, and might always be seen through a window. Pliny relates with great solemnity, that he refused food from the hand of Germanicus, who died soon after; and one ancient historian asserts, that during the seven days when the birth of Apis was celebrated, crocodiles forgot their natural ferocity and became tame.*

In a place situated at the northern extremity of the lake Mareotis,' says M. De Pauw, 'a sacred bull was fed, and although many other towns of Egypt practised the same devotion, yet the names of Hermonthis, Heliopolis, and Memphis, only are recorded. The reputation of the bull Apis eclipsed that of all the others, as soon as the court of the kings was transferred to Thebes; but in other respects the Egyptians had as great veneration for the environs of Memphis, as for those of Abydos. The learned cannot agree on the term fixed for the life of Apis. Plutarch pretends that he was drowned at the age of twenty-five years; and this

Notes on Herodotus.

according to him agreed with the number of characters contained in the Egyptian alphabet; but Mr. Butter who succeeded in finding out the Egyptian letters by studying the fillets of the mummies, asserts that they do not exceed twenty-two. It is probable that Apis was destroyed as soon as his appetite and vigour flagged under the pressure of age; because in that state he could not give favourable auguries-the only service required of him by the people.

'Pharaoh Bocchoris conceived the idea of removing the sacred bull called Mnevis, from the town of Heliopolis, and by that means he lost entirely the esteem of the people, among whom such animals had been worshipped for a greater length of time than the Roman empire existed. Apis did not disappear altogether at Memphis until the reign of Theodosius; and, according to Mr. Jablonski, the first had been consecrated 1170 years before our present era. Thus a regular succession had taken place during a period of at least 1550 years, but possibly much longer, because Mr. Jablonski has been guided by the sentiment of Eusebius, and in such matters that of Manethon seems preferable.*

Among the most singular opinions ever hazarded regarding this Egyptian deity, is that, however, of Mr. Huet, Bishop of Avranches, who endeavoured to prove that Apis was the symbol of the Patriach Joseph. But it has been generally allowed that Osiris was reverenced in the homage paid to Apis. Osiris introduced agriculture, in which the utility of the bull is obvious; and this appears to be the most rational explanation that can be given of this part of the Egyptian superstition.

In associating the representation of the serpent with that of the bull, it would seem that both these animals received equal honours from the altars of this ruined temple, since the serpent ranks also with the earliest and most renowned of the sacred animals of this singular people. From a passage of Eustathius, one might infer, however, that at some very remote period, these deities were not associated in the same worship, as he says that Apis cleared the Peloponnesse of serpents, and named it from himself, Apia; after which he was deified, and thence called Serapis, in manifest allusion to the great idol of the Egyptians. So that, from this period, their union appears to have commenced.

That we may see how much of allusion to historical facts was bound up in the symbols of antiquity, and how truth may often lie hidden in the mysteries of fable, we may remember that Egeus, of Athens, according to Androtian, was of the serpent breed, and that the first king of the country was said to have been a dragon. Others,' says Mr. Bryant, make Cecrops the first who reigned; he is said to have been of a two-fold nature, being formed with the

* Pantheon. Egyptian, lib. 4. cap. 2. Philosophical Dissertations, sect. 7.