*272

SPLENDID MOUNTAIN SCENERY.

proceeding to a slaughter-house, which, in fact, northern countries, prove to them, not excepting even Egypt, as they die there of cold by thousands.

Monday, Dec. 31. Ekhmun.

CXCIV. The eastern mountains begin to present a change of feature. Instead of running nearly in a straight line, north and south, they, above Räeinah, fluctuate remarkably in their direction, now retreating inwards in the form of a half-moon, and now advancing again over the plain in sharp promontories, presenting to the eye a series of precipices of vast height, and perfectly perpendicular. Sometimes several of these promontories are beheld at once, obliquely approaching the river, like the terminations of a series of parallel ridges; but, continuing to sail on, you successively discover the craggy curtains which unite these projections to each other. In many parts a succession of small wavy mounds of sand, like the section of a globe, rest against the foot of the mountains, and slope down gently towards the plain. It is true that, for many hundred miles, there is never seen, upon this dreary range, a leaf, a single blade of grass, or any green thing; but a thousand circumstances concur in removing the stamp of monotony. Sometimes you behold them lifting up their dark crests against the pale jasper sky of the morning, just as the earth receives the first tints of the dawn; then the sun, bursting up from behind them, covers their pinnacles with glory;

WINDS ON THE NILE.

273

anon they glow painfully bright beneath the fiery sky of noon; or are transformed into columns of turquoise and amethyst by the magic illusions of sunset. Such are the objects which, for many hundred miles, constitute the principal sources of interest to the traveller; for neither are there any ruins in this part of the valley, nor, after the edge of curiosity has been blunted, do the caverns and grottoes excite any very powerful emotions. Nature, however, in these splendid climates, is always beautiful. And when the monuments of Egyptian art shall all have crumbled to dust, and the site of Thebes be more problematical than that of Babylon or Memphis, Egypt will still be a wonder in itself, with its soil of inexhaustible fertility, its deserts, and mighty river, which rises and falls with a regularity almost equal to that of the sun and moon.

CXCV. Even the winds which blow over the Nile constitute a very remarkable natural phænomenon. At all seasons of the year we almost invariably find them following or opposing the course of the current, a circumstance referrible to those two extraordinary ridges of mountains which, running parallel with the river, hem in the narrow valley on both sides. Excepting when the stream diverges from the right line, towards the east or west, the voyager on the Nile is seldom affected by side winds ; though, in some few parts of the valley, not yet sufficiently noted by travellers, sudden and violent gusts,

274

THE FIRST CROCODILE.

descending from the Arabian or Libyan mountains, endanger his safety by overturning or submerging his boat. The ordinary winds begin to blow faintly soon after dawn, and, increasing with the increasing heat of the sun, are most powerful about three o'clock in the afternoon; after which they gradually die away, and cease entirely at sunset. Thus they proceed, day after day, with little variation, though instances occur of the south wind's continuing throughout night, blowing with unmitigated violence, or rising and sinking several times during that period. Occasionally, in passing a village, the traveller finds himself all at once becalmed, while the boats, a little before or behind, are sailing beautifully before the wind; which is caused by the numerous houses, and the extensive surrounding groves that intercept and turn aside the atmospheric current. In consequence of these phænomena we generally begin the day with tracking, the morning breeze not being sufficiently powerful to enable us to stem the current ; from nine or ten o'clock until night we trust to our sails, though, when the wind is faint, towing again becomes necessary about five or six o'clock.

CXCVI. In the course of this afternoon we saw the first crocodile, basking in the sun on a low sandy island near the eastern bank; and, shortly afterwards, passed Soohaj, the ancient Crocodilopolis; a town of some consideration, with three mosques, whose minarets looked well amid the foliage of the date trees.

The Nile, increasing in breadth and

grandeur as we ascend, appeared singularly beautiful to-night, on approaching Panopolis by moonlight. This city, now Ekhmim, stands at some distance from the river; but, as it contains some remains of antiquity, which, from the importance of the place, and the remote date of its foundation, promised to repay our curiosity, we would not postpone our visit until our return, but moored close to the footpath leading to the town, in order to be there early on the morrow.

Tuesday, Jan. 1. 1833. Minshich. CXCVII. Rising before the dawn, we were soon prepared to leave our boats, in order to visit the

City of Pan," where games were anciently celebrated in honour of Perseus; who, conjointly with Danaë, had here a chapel erected to his honour. About the nature and attributes of the god anciently worshipped in this city under the name of Chemmis, mythological writers are not agreed: according to some, it was a personification of the "immaterial fire," the first principle of all things; others, differing, perhaps, merely in appearance, regard Chemmist as a form of Ammon, presiding over the perpetuation of animals. Divested of the deceptive splendour of erudition, he appears, however, like the deity of Lampsacus, to have been nothing more

* Creuzer, Religions de l'Antiquité, t. i. p. 410.

† This name, which, perhaps, was only one of the appellations of Mendes, may have been derived from the Egyptian verb Chem," to be hot, fervent, lustful."

276

WORSHIP OF PAN.

than a deification of the principle of lust, which, there is but too much reason for believing, was every where the favourite divinity of the ancient Egyptians. His symbol, we know, was a goat; a fact which speaks more plainly than hieroglyphics.*

CXCVIII. In the city which formerly contained the image of this "obscene dread" of Egypt's sons, there are, properly speaking, no ruins; for, after carefully investigating every part of the neighbourhood, where the appearance of the ground seemed to indicate the existence of such objects, and questioning a number of the inhabitants on the subject, all we could discover were many prodigious blocks of stone, lying to the east of the city near the cemetery; a few scattered fragments of marble and granite columns in different parts of the town; and one huge fragment, twenty-four feet in length, of the architrave of a temple, on which we observed a mutilated Greek inscription. On the above blocks, of Cyclopean di

* Pan, Chemmis, Mendes, the Esmun of the Phœnicians. Jablonski, who was by no means disposed to degrade the mythology and religion of Egypt, if religion it can be called,— identifies Chemmis with Pan, observing that the very name signifies " the fecundating principle." He also describes the portentous enormities which, according to Pindar and Herodotus, were sometimes perpetrated by Egyptian women in his honour. Panth. Ægypt. i. 277. 281. 283. His worship and symbols resemble, in many respects, those of Siva among the Hindoos. Id. i. 285. 287. The famous crux ansata, vulgarly denominated “The Key of the Nile," is merely a rude representation of the Kteis-Phallus, the united symbols of Isis and Osiris, known in India under the name of the Yoni-Lingam, and supposed to signify the vivifying power of the sun, or, more properly, the creative energy, which contained within itself the active and passive powers of production. — Id. i. 287—295. ̧