402 TRACK OF THE GAZELLE. by the tracks of the gazelle, accompanied, in some instances, by those of some much larger animal, that seemed to have been in pursuit of it. On drawing nearer the mountains, we perceived, moving slowly across the sand, a single gazelle, which, on seeing us, immediately took to flight, and disappeared. Our estimation of the distance of the mountains proved to be erroneous. We had been in fact deceived by the even surface of the waste, for having proceeded mile after mile, we seemed to be no nearer our journey's end, while the sun poured down its burning rays, tempered, however, by a pleasant breeze from the west, constantly blowing, and maintaining an agreeable freshness in the air. CCXCV. The sands, as we advanced, were covered for miles round with fragments of lava, red, black, and grey, and increasing in magnitude and abundance as the distance between us and the mountains diminished. In denominating the substances we here saw lava, I pretend to no scientific precision, though to me they appeared exactly of the same nature with those so abundantly vomited forth by Vesuvius and Etna; and the features of the cones themselves presented so strikingly volcanic an aspect, that, those of Vesuvius itself, viewed from the Bay of Naples, seemed less so. A few hundred yards to the right of our track, in a small hollow near the foot of the hills, we saw a mirage, more perfect than the one I had witnessed near Canopus, yet evidently falling far short of the descriptions of other travellers. EXTINCT VOLCANOES. 403 CCXCVI. Reaching the mountains in about three hours, we found the whole surface of the plain around, the ravines, vallies, and narrow gorges dividing the innumerable cones from each other, incumbered with showers of cinders and lava, which seemed to have been poured forth from various craters, and to have run in several directions over the sand, in small black bubbling rivulets, cooling and hardening as they ran. The loftiest of the nearer cones, towering six or seven hundred feet above the table-land of Nubia, appearing from below to present evident traces of a crater, we resolved to ascend it, though the day was already far spent ; and, in making towards it, passed over one of the smaller hills, resembling in form an oblong barrow, and divided from the neighbouring mountain by a deep torrent bed, now dry; while the vast cone by which it might be said to be overshadowed, distinguished by features gloomy and dismal beyond conception, covered on all sides with black rocks, scoriæ, and ashes, torn up by rain torrents, scorched and pulverised by the sun, appeared like an infernal mount on the banks of the Cocytus. The ascent to its summit was eminently difficult and laborious. To say nothing of the heat, which, however, was such as is seldom experienced in Europe, our movements were impeded by the nature of the ground, the scoria and cinders slipping every moment from beneath our feet, and causing us frequently to climb twice or three times over the same space. Many parts, also, which seemed practicable at a distance, were now found to be nearly per 404 EXTINCT VOLCANOES. pendicular. Our long walk over the sand had wearied us, and we often paused to compare what we had achieved with what was yet to be accomplished. But, persevering in our undertaking, we at length reached the summit. CCXCVII. The prospect commanded from this lofty pinnacle, is, I am convinced, unlike anything elsewhere met with in the world, the whole surface of the desert to the west and south, being covered, farther than the eye could reach, with enormous black cones, in some places springing up in isolated masses, and elsewhere united by a curtain of rocks into immeasurable ridges, rising in endless succession beyond each other. Ten thousand volcanic peaks here, perhaps, come under the eye at once; yet these appear to be but the beginning of a series of similar mountains, extending to an unknown distance towards the heart of Africa. The crater, if crater it was, found upon the summit of the mountain we had ascended, was now shallow, as if it had been filled up by time, and we found several bones, probably of camels, among the cinders. When war prevails among the desert tribes, scouts, perhaps, may be stationed on these heights, to watch the movements of the enemy; for we observed on one of the peaks a small rude breastwork of stone, probably intended to cover the bodies of the scouts, like those behind which they lie concealed when hunting the gazelle. On returning towards Dakke, where the great propylon served as a pharos to direct our course, we passed, near the village, a narrow beautifully green oasis, about three TEMPLE OF DAKKE. 405 quarters of a mile in length, and running nearly parallel with the banks of the river. It is indebted for its fine verdure to a fountain, situated near its northern extremity, whence sufficient water is raised for the irrigation of the whole. Night had already commenced when we reached the Nile, so that, postponing the examination of the ruins until the morrow, we moored opposite the temple. Monday, Jan. 21. Seboua. CCXCVIII. The temple of Dakke, which we visited early in the morning, is unquestionably the most remarkable piece of architectural patchwork I have anywhere seen, exhibiting three distinct styles of construction. The nucleus of the whole, was originally a small square chapel, of elegant proportions, with a diminutive propylon in front. An apartment was then added to the southern end, and a wall built round the whole, about three feet and a half outside of the chapel. Between the new and old walls, we found, towards the east, a narrow chamber, containing a deep sepulchre, at the southern end of which, are seen the figures of three lions, cleverly executed, two seated facing each other, with the yoni-lingam, and two large feathers, between them; the third, in another compartment above, walking towards the east, while a Cynocephalus* appears to be wor * Aristotle, quoted by Dr. Pritchard, describes the Cynocephalus, or dog-headed monkey, as an ape without a tail. But he was certainly mistaken; for on all the Egyptian monuments this animal is represented with a tail, which, when seated, he curls round his feet like a cat. 406 THE CYNOCEPHALUS. shipping before him with uplifted hands. Over one of the chapel doors, four of these animals, with very long tails, are approaching in procession a winged scarabæus, the symbol of the sun. On the eastern wall is Isis, seated on a throne, with Harpocrates standing behind her, enjoining silence in the usual significant manner. In the additional modern chamber, are two figures presenting a sphynx and a wreath of flowers to one of the principal divinities, seated on a throne. CCXCIX. In design and execution there is but little difference between the bas reliefs on the ancient chapel, and those in the southern apartment, or the small sepulchral chamber, which are comparatively modern additions; but all are extremely superior to the sculptures usually found on the walls of Egyptian temples, and seem, in the richness of the contour, to betray the handiwork of a Grecian chisel, though the attitudes and positions are stiff and ungainly by hereditary right. Even these figures, however, are surpassed, in every respect, by the bassi rilievi of Amada, near Derr. As nearly all the temples south of Es-Souan, (not including the hypogea,) appear to have been erected partly under the Ptolemies, partly under the Roman emperors, Greeks may have been employed both in the architecture and sculpture; who, though far inferior to their ancestors, and working after fixed rules and given patterns, would naturally infuse into their performances a gracefulness and delicacy unknown |