arrived at Alexandria on the 9th of June following. The object of his visit to Egypt was to construct hydraulic machines, to water the fields with greater expedition, and less expence, than the method usually adopted in that country. On arriving at Alexandria, the city was infected with the plague, though it was then on the decline. He and his party, which consisted only of Mrs. Belzoni, James Curtain, an Irish youth, and himself, were, accordingly, obliged to perform quarantine at the French Occale, where they remained till the first of July, when the plague had entirely abated. The 24th of June, St. John's day, is eagerly looked for by the Egyptians during the plague, as it then generally begins to decline rapidly, a circumstance which the natives attribute to the guardian- power of the saint, but which Mr. Belzoni justly attributes to the great increase of heat, which, like the extreme of cold, checks the pestilence. On the first of July, Mr. Belzoni. and his party sailed up the Nile, in company with Mr. Turner, an English gentleman, but were driven back by contrary winds the same evening. The next day they re-embarked, and landed at Aboukir, in consequence of high winds. They continued their voyage the same day, and landed at Rosetta. In four days afterwards, they reached Boolak, within a mile of Cairo, to which they immediately proceeded; and as the monks of the convent of Terressante could receive no women within their walls, they were accommodated with an old house in Boolak, belonging to Mr. Baghos, the principal interpreter of Mahomed Ali, and director of all foreign affairs. Mr. Baghos very courteously appointed a day to present him to his Highness, the Bashaw, to propose the object of his visit. In the meantime, curiosity led him to see the pyramids in the neighbourhood of Cairo, in company with Mr. Turner, who procured an escort of soldiers from the Bashaw. -They ascended the first pyramid before the rising of the sun; and, though Mr. Belzoni deals not in the picturesque style, the scene, as he describes it, is grand and imposing beyond description. Our limits preclude us from entertaining our read ers with the sublime prospects of which it was composed, and which lavish nature seemed to have scattered around him, in terrific though delightful magnificence. Mr. Belzoni returned with his friend to Cairo, strongly impressed with the influence of a scene which he had long desired, but never expected he should have the happiness to behold. A few days after, he and a party of Europeans visited the pyramids of Sacara, by water, whence he proceeded, accompanied only by Mr. Turner, to visit the pyramids of Dajior; which, though considerably smaller, are in much better preservation than any of the rest. If opportunity permitted, they would have visited the embalmed mummies of birds, but a Fellah brought them an earthen vase containing a bird, which appeared to be of the hawk species. The vase was so perfect, that they believed the Fellah only sought to impose upon them, and, refusing, consequently, to purchase it, the Fellah, to prove what connoisseurs they were, broke it in their presence. Two days after their return to Cairo, Mr. Baghos accompanied him to the citadel, to introduce him to the Bashaw; but as they passed along through one of the principal streets, a soldier on horseback rode up to him, and gave him such a blow on the leg with his stirrup, that he imagined it cut in two. The wound was deep, and two inches broad, so that, instead of proceeding to the Bashaw, he was taken to the convent of Terrassanta, to be cured. The stirrups of the Turkish soldiers are like shovels, cut very short. The Turks were, at this time, greatly incensed against the Bashaw, for ordering them to learn the European military evolutions,a circumstance to which Mr. Belzoni attributes the injury which he received. After recovering from his wound, he was presented to the Bashaw, who received him with great civility. He seemed to think little about the wound in his leg, simply observing, that such things were unavoidable, where there were troops. He immediately entered into an arrangement with Mr. Belzoni, relative to the construction of his hydraulic machine; but he was not many days engaged in it, when a revolution took place at Cairo among the troops, who were hostile to the introduction of European tactics; and the Bashaw was obliged to take refuge in the citadel. Cairo and its vicinity remained a scene of pillage and confusion for several days, during which, our traveller was obliged to confine himself within doors; but the troops who remained faithful to the Bashaw succeeded, at length, in restoring order, and the discontented troops were sent to encampments in various stations, at a distance from Cairo. The Bashaw, however, was obliged to relinquish his project of introducing the military evolutions of Europe among his soldiery. After tranquillity was restored, Mr. Belzoni proceeded with his hydraulic preparations, in which he experienced considerable interruption from the Turks, who were not only hostile to all European improvements, but suspected, that if this hydraulic machine should succeed, it would deprive many of them of work. While he was thus engaged, he had many opportunities of becoming acquainted with the manners and customs of the Turks, and the occupations and amusements of the Bashaw, which he very particularly describes. The Bashaw is a great marksman, and diverts himself every evening, about sun-set, in shooting at an earthen pot, placed on the opposite bank of the Nile. Mr. Belzoni saw him hit a pot, only fifteen inches high, across the Nile, where the river is much broader than the Thames at Westminster. He is extremely fond of European arts, to which his subjects have a proportionate aversion. He has, how, ever, succeeded in introducing the fabrication of gunpowder, the refining of sugar, the making of fine indigo, and the silk manufacture. Why a ruler should be more studious of those arts which benefit society at large, than those to whom the blessing is communicated, seems to be a question well worthy of philosophic investigation. As our limits will not permit us to enter into the discussion, we can only observe, that mere abstract philosophy can have little, or, rather, no hope of being able to resolve it; and that no writer can pretend to be adequate to the task, who cannot place himself in the same situation with the people, for the motives of whose conduct he pretends to account. Mr. Belzoni's water machine was finished while the Bashaw happened to be at Alexandria, and, on his return, an experiment was made of its utility. Though constructed of bad wood and bad iron, and erected by Arabian carpenters, it drew six times more water than the common machines. The prejudice, however, was very strong against it; and the Bashaw, fearful to oppose the general feeling, decided, that it had only four times the power of the common machines. This, however, was all that Mr. Belzoni had undertaken, but an accident soon frustrated its adoption, and quieted the fears of the people. The Bashaw, to indulge a frolic, instead of oxen, put fifteen men into it, to try its effect, but the wheel had scarcely turned once, when they all leaped out, leaving James, the Irish boy, alone in the machine. The wheel, which was consequently overbalanced by the weight of water, turned back with such rapidity, that the catch was unable to check it; and the boy was violently thrown out, having one of his thighs broken. The Turks have an insurmountable objection to all new inventions which are attended with any accident; and the Bashaw, who had not yet surmounted the fears of the late rebellion, yielded to their superstition, and renounced the adoption of the machine, so that Mr. Belzoni's contract with him was consigned to oblivion. He now determined to leave Cairo, Salt, the British Consul, to procure and, accordingly, applied to Mr. him a firman from the Bashaw, to sail up the Nile. Mr. Salt, who had long deliberated on removing the head of the statue of the younger Memnon, which lay at Gornou, a village near Thebes, availed himself of this opportunity, and proposed to Mr. Belzoni the raising of the bust, and conveying it down the Nile to Alexandria, with an intention of sending it to London, and offering it as a present to the British Museum. To this proposal, Mr. Belzoni agreed, but denies, that he tish Consul, as has been publicly was regularly employed by the Bri stated, and says he received no remuneration but the expences which he had incurred on the occasion. Having made the necessary preparations, Mr. Belzoni departed from Cairo on the 30th of June, and met Ibrahim, Bashaw of Upper Egypt, on his way to Siout, to whom he presented his letters. The Bashaw politely requested of him to deliver them to the Defterdar, who was left in command at Siout. He reached Siout on the 6th of July, and found the Defterdar Bey from home. He waited on Dr. Scotto, according to the instructions which he received from the Consul, but found him unwilling to promote the success of his undertaking, observing, that "the bust was a mass of stone not worth the earriage." The Bey, however, on his arrival, received him very politely, and furnished him with orders to the Casheft of the province of Erments, who holds jurisdiction over the Fellahs of Thebes. Mr. Belzoni proceeded on his voyage, and reached Dendera on the 18th, at night; and visited the celebrated temple of Tentyra the next morning. It is the first Egyptian temple that presents itself along the Nile, and by far the most magnificent. Mr. Belzoni gives a very minute description of this" Cabinet of Egyptian Arts, the product of studies for many centuries." Here he saw the famous Zodiac, which, we under stand, has been purchased since Mr. Belzoni left Egypt, by the King of France, out of his own private purse, to embellish the ceiling of the Louvre. For the description of this noted temple, we must refer the reader to the work before us, that we may pursue Mr. Belzoni on his route. On the 22d, he landed at Luxor, and saw the ruins of Thebes, for the first time. Mr. Belzoni describes several colossal figures, which he met with before he reached the bust which he had to remove, particularly the colussus of Memnon, or Sesostris, or Osymandias, or Rhamenoph, or some other Egyptian monarch, for, as Mr. Belzoni observes," so many names have been given to it, that at last it has no name at all." He says it would require more labour to convey this mass of granite by water than the obelisk known by the name of Pompey's Pillar. He commenced his operations of removing the bust ander very discouraging auspices. The only implements he brought from Cairo were fourteen poles, eight of which were employed in making a sort of cart to lay the bust on, four ropes of palm leaves, and four rollers without tackle of any sort. The want of implements, however, was little in comparison to the difficulties thrown in his way by the Turkish Cachefts and Caima kans, on whose word no reliance can be placed. Even when a superior sends a firman, tiscarry, or order to an inferior governor, though he will not positively disobey the order, he will endeavour to prevent its execution one way or other, unless he receives a present from the person whose interest it promotes. Mr. Belzoni, however, succeeded in removing the bust to the banks of the Nile, though he had considerable difficulty in getting the Arabs to work; for they not only acted in concert with each other, but seemed to have frequently private instructions from the Cachefts to disappoint him when he stood most in need of them. Accordingly, if he had an hundred men at work one day, he could not get one of them to appear the day following, though they had strict orders to attend him from the Cachefts, and were regularly paid for their labour by Mr. Belzoni. After conveying the bust to the banks of the Nile, he went with some Arabs to a cave, where he was informed by M. Dronetti, the exconsul-general of the late government of France, that a sarcophagus was discovered. The ex-consul himself endeavoured to remove it, but could not succeed, the Arabs having cunningly stopped up the great entrance which led to it. Mr. Belzoni entered through a long narrow cavity, where he was frequently obliged to creep on the ground. They reached the sarcophagus at length, which nearly closed up the passage. One of the Arabs, however, and Mr. Belzoni's interpreter, succeeded in passing, and it was agreed that Mr. Belzoni himself, and the other Arab should wait there till the interpreter and his companion returned. They went so far that the lights entirely disappeared, and a few minutes after the interpreter was heard to cry out, O. mon Dieu! mon Dieu ! Je suis per.du. Mr. Belzoni immediately returned to procure help from the other Arabs, but lost his way. At length, however, he miraculously got out, and found his interpreter at the entrance. It seems that, after leaving Mr. Belzoni, they came to a pit, which they did not perceive till the Arab fell in. It was then the interpreter cried out, I am lost; for the Arab, in falling, put out both, lights. The interpreter, however, happening to see a small light at a distance, approached it, and after scraping away some loose sand and stones, got out of the cave through an aperture in the large entrance which the Arabs had stopped up. Mr. Belzoni immediately set the Arabs to work, and cleared out the large entrance, in order to remove the sarcophagus, but the Cacheft of Erments, whose permission he had heretofore in all his operations, sent him word to desist, as the sarcophagus was sold to the French consul. Finding he could not, at present, succeed in his design, and having no boat fit to convey the colossal bust to Cairo, he sent a courier to Mr. Salt, to send him a boat for that purpose, and determined, in the mean time, to go up the Nile, and return before the courier arrived from Cairo. His voyage up the Nile is extremely interesting, and places the character of the Turks and their chiefs in a truer point of view than that of any other traveller. The principal places and remains of antiquity, which he describes, are Esné, Edfu, Assouan, the Isle of Elephan tine and its temple, supposed to be dedicated to the serpent Knuphis, the beautiful Island of Philoe, Taffa, the ruins of Kalabshe, Garba. Dan dour, Garbah Merieh, Garba Gyrshe, the temple of Dakke and its Greek inscriptions, Meharraka, or Offelina, Seboua, Korosko, Deir the great capital of Lower Nubia, Ibrim and its sepulchral chambers, Faras, Yb sambul and its temple, half-buried in the sand, Wady Halfa, the Isle of Mainarty, and the rock of Aspir, which commands a view of the second Cataract. Here Mr. Belzoni was obliged to return; but on his arrival at Thebes, he found that no boat had arrived from Cairo, though Mr. Salt had sent him a remittance of money. After considerable trou ble and perplexity, Mr. Belzoni however succeeded in procuring a boat, and conveying the bust of Memnon to Cairo, where he received, letters from the consul, who was then at Alexandria, to proceed to him directly with the colossus, leaving all the other articles he had brought with him in the consulate. He left Cairo accordingly on the 3d of January, 1817, and reached Alexandria in eleven days, where he lodged the colossus in the Bashaw's magazine to await its embarkation for England. Mr. Belzoni had left too many objects of curiosity behind him to remain satisfied with his first trip into Upper Egypt and Nubia. He proposed accordingly a second voy, age to Mr. Salt, particularly with a view to open the temple of Ybsambul, which he attempted in his first journey, but which he was obliged to give over for want of sufficient money to pay the workmen. The consul readily embraced the proposal, and Mr. Belzoni set off from Boolak on the 20th of February, in company with a Mr. Beechey, whom he took along with him at the consul's request. On their arrival at Eshmouneir, they were informed that two agents of Mr. Drouetti, the French ex-consul, were making a forced march to Thebes. Mr. Bel zoni justly concluding that their ob ject was to reach that place before himself to purchase up all the antiques, that had been accumulated by the Arabs during the preceding season, and also apprehensive they would take possession of a spot where he had made excavations and discovered sphinxes and statues, if they reached Thebes before him, im, mediately determined to travel by land, and ordered a horse and ass to be got ready. He took along with him a Greek servant, who at tended on board, and leaving the boat in Mr. Beechey's charge, he arrived in Thebes by forced marches in five days and a half. It happened that the Defterdar Bey of Siout had given Mr. Belzoni a letter to the British consul, to which he expected an answer by Mr. Belzoni on his return; but the consul having ne glected to write to him he was so enraged, that he went direct to Luxor, and ordered the ground where Mr. Belzoni had discovered the sphinxes, to be dug up, and all its contents were afterwards given to the agents of M. Drouetti, who took every opportunity of conciliating the good will of the Bey, and irritating him against the English party. Mr. Belzoni, however, continued to make many important discoveries, though every possible difficulty was thrown in his way. Among the relics of antiquity which he discovered, were two brazen vessels, which he purchased from one of the Fellahs, and which he describes as the finest and most perfect pieces of Egyptian antiquity he had ever seen. They were covered with engraved hieroglyphics, admirably executed; and were about eighteen inches high, and ten in diameter, their sound resembling that of Corinthian brass. The French party, finding the success that attended Mr. Belzoni's labours, succeeded at length in persuading the Bey, who was already incensed against the English, to issue an order to all the Cachefts, and Caimakans who commanded on both sides of Thebes, not to permit Mr. Belzoni's party to collect any more antiquities, nor to allow the Arabs to work, or sell any thing more to them on any account. Mr. Belzoni expostulated, and threatened to write to the Bashaw, on which he counteracted the order, but shortly renewed it again, so that Mr. Belzoni finding it useless to remain at Thebes, determined to proceed farther up the Nile. He left a Sheik to guard his collection, which he covered with earth, and encompassed with a mud wall before his departure. Mr. Belzoni gives, not only a very circumstantial, but a very pleasing, account of the various places, curiosities, and antiquities which he visited and explored in his second voyage up the Nile, among which may be particularly noticed his account of the Island of Philoe, and its curiosities. His opening the temple of Ybsambul, however, excites the attention of the reader more than all the rest, not only because it was half buried in the sand, but because its internal part was never seen by the oldest inhabitant then living. He was twenty-eight days in removing the sand which closed up the entrance, and had frequently upwards of one hundred men employ ed. On entering, he was surprized to find it one of the most beautiful temples in Egypt, enriched with beautiful intaglios, paintings, colossal figures, &c. We regret our limits will not afford us to give even an abstract of his description; but it is well worthy the attention of every lover of antiquity. Mr. Belzoni, after visiting every place worthy the attention of the antiquary and inquisitive traveller, returned to Thebes, and commenced his operations anew. Finding M. Drouetti's agents making excavations about Gornau, and knowing from experience he could not be at peace in their neighbourhood, he determined to make the sacred valley of Beban el Malook the scene of his researches; having previously obtained a firman from the Cacheft of Ghous, who was now ruler over Thebes, directed to the Scheiks of Gournou, commanding them to supply him with twenty men. In this fortunate valley Mr. Belzoni made his grand discovery of the tomb of Psammuthis, King of Egypt. He caused the earth to be dug up at the foot of a steep hill, immediately under a torrent, where no vestige of a tomb appeared. He kept the men at work, however, for three days, and at length discovered an entrance into the solid rock, eighteen feet below the surface. The entrance led to a corridor, thirty-six feet two inches long, eight feet four inches wide, and eight feet nine inches high: the paintings on the ceiling and the hieroglyphics, in basso relievo indicated that it was the entrance to some magnificent tomb. At the end was a stair-case twenty-three feet in depth, which led to another corridor, still larger and more sumptuous than the former: at the end was a pit, thirty feet deep, and fourteen by twelve feet wide, beyond which he descried a small aperture, two feet wide, and two feet and a half high. He contrived, by placing beams across the pit, to reach the entrance, and open it: on entering, Mr. Belzoni found himself in a beautiful hall, twentyseven feet and a half long, and about twenty-six feet wide, supported by square pillars. This entrance hall led to a chamber twenty-eight feet long, and twenty-five feet and a half wide, also supported by pillars. On one side of the entrance hall he diss |