The emperor Constantine, still more ambitious of these costly foreign ornaments, resolved to decorate his new-founded capital of Constantinople with the largest of all the obelisks that stood on the ruins of Thebes. He succeeded in having it conveyed as far as Alexandria; but, dying at the time, its destination was changed, and an enormous raft, managed by three hundred rowers, transported the granite obelisk from Alexandria to Rome. The difficulties encountered by the large, flat, awkward vessel, do not appear to have occurred during the passage across the Mediterranean, which was, no doubt, effected during the fine, settled summer season, when that sea is often, for weeks together, almost as calm as a small freshwater lake; but they presented themselves at the passage of the mouth of the Tiber, and in the shallows of that river. When all these obstacles were overcome, it required the labor of thousands of men to set up the obelisk upon its base at Rome.

The emperor Theodosius, at last, succeeding in bringing an obelisk from Egypt to Constantinople, erected it in the Hippodrome. Though this was of an inferior size (being rather under than over fifty feet) it is recorded that it required thirty-two days' labor, and the most complicated contrivances of mechanics, to set it upright. The Constantinopolitan obelisk still stands where it was first erected by the emperor; but those of Rome have been removed by the popes. In all, there are twelve ancient obelisks erect in the modern city of Rome.

Thirty years after Bonaparte's first conception of the idea, the French government, then under Charles X., having obtained the consent of the pacha of Egypt, determined that one of the obelisks of Luxor should be brought to Paris. The difficulties of doing this," said M. Delaborde, "were great. In the first place, it was necessary to build a vessel which should be large enough to contain the monument, deep enough to stand the sea, and at the same time, draw so little water as to be able to ascend and descend such rivers as the Nile and Seine.

In the month of February, 1831, when the crown of France had passed into the hands of Louis Philippe, a vessel, built as nearly as could be on the necessary principles, was finished and equipped at Toulon. This vessel, which for the sake of lightness was chiefly made of fir and other white wood, was named the "Louxor." The crew consisted of one hundred and twenty seamen, under the command of Lieutenant Verninac of the French royal navy; and there were, besides, sixteen mechanics of different professions, and a master to direct the works, under the superintendence of M. Lebas, formerly a pupil of the Polytechnic School, and now a naval engineer. M. J. P. Angelina accompanied the expedition in the quality of surgeon-major.

On the 15th of April, 1831 (which we should have thought two months too early in the season), the "Louxor" sailed from Toulon. Some rather violent winds and heavy seas proved that a vessel so built was not very seaworthy, and appear to have somewhat frightened the "chirurgien-major;" but they arrived, without any serious accident, in the port of Alexandria, on the 3d of May. After staying forty-two days at Alexandria, the expedition sailed again on the 15th of June for the Rosetta mouth of the Nile, which they entered on the following day, though not without danger from the sandbank which the river has deposited there. At Rosetta they remained some days; and on the 20th of June, M. Lebas, the engineer, two officers, and a few of the sailors and workmen, leaving the "Louxor" to make her way up the river, slowly, embarked in common Nile-boats for Thebes, carrying with them the tools and materials necessary for the removal of the obelisk. On the 7th of July, when the waters of the Nile had risen considerably, the "Louxor" sailed from Rosetta ; on the 13th she reached Boulak, the port of Grand Cairo, where she remained until the 19th; and she did not arrive at Thebes until the 14th of August, which was two months after her departure from Alexandria.

The Turks and Arabs were astonished at seeing so large a vessel on the Nile, and frequently predicted she would not accomplish the whole voyage. The difficulties encountered in so doing were, indeed, very serious. In spite of the peculiar build and material, the vessel grounded and stuck fast in the sand several times; at other times a contrary wind, joined to the current, which was of course contrary all the way up, obliged them to lie at anchor for days; and the greatest part of the ascent of the river was effected by towing, which exhausting work seems to have been performed, partly by the French sailors, and partly by such Arabs and Fellahs as they could hire for the occasion. An excessive heat rendered this fatigue still more insupportable. Reaumur's thermometer marked from 30° to 38° in the shade, and

Hieroglyphics on the uppermost Division of the Obelisk of Luxor.

ascended to 50° and even to 55o, in the sun. Several of the sailors were seized with dysentery, and the quantity of sand blown about by the wind, and the glaring reflection of the burning sun, afflicted others with painful ophthalmia. The sand must have been particularly distressing; one day the wind raised it, and rolled it onward in such volume as, at intervals, to obscure the light of the sun. After they had felicitated themselves on the fact that the plague was not in the country, they were struck with alarm on the 29th of August, by learning that the cholera-morbus had broken out most violently at Cairo. On the 11th of September the same mysterious disease declared itself on the plain of Thebes, with the natives of which the French were obliged to have frequent communications. In a very short time fifteen of the sailors, according to our author, the surgeon, caught the contagion, but every one recovered under his care and skill. At the same time, however (panic, no doubt, increasing the disposition to disease), no fewer than forty-eight men were laid up with dysentery, which proved fatal to two of them.

In the midst of these calamities and dangers, the French sailors persevered in preparing the operations relative to the object of the expedition. One of the first cares of M. Lebas, the engineer, on his arriving on the plain of Thebes, was to erect, near to the obelisks, and not far from the village of Luxor, proper wooden barracks, sheds, and tents, to lodge the officers, sailors, and workmen, on shore. He also built an oven to bake them bread, and magazines in which to secure their provisions, and the sails, cables, &c., of the vessel. The now desolate site on which the City of the Hundred Gates, the vast, the populous, and the wealthy Thebes, once stood, offered them no resources, nor a single comfort of civilized life. But French soldiers and sailors are happily, and, we may say, honorably distinguished, by the facility with which they adapt themselves to circumstances, and turn their hands to whatever can add to their comfort and wellbeing. The sailors on this expedition, during their hours of repose from more severe labors, carefully prepared and dug up pieces of ground for kitchen-gardens. They cultivated bread-melons and watermelons, lettuces, and other vegetables. They even planted some trees, which thrived very well; and they made their place of temporary residence a little paradise, as compared with the wretched huts and neglected fields of the oppressed natives.

Referring our readers, then, to the engraving, we need only add on the present occasion, that it was the smaller of the two obelisks the French had to remove. But this smaller column of hard, heavy granite, was seventy-two French feet high, aud was calculated to weigh upward of two hundred and forty tons. It stood, moreover, at the distance of about twelve hundred feet from the Nile, and the intervening space presented many difficulties.

M. Lebas, the engineer, commenced by making an inclined plane, extending from the base of the obelisk to the edge of the river. This work occupied nearly all the French sailors and about seven hundred Arabs, during three months, for they were obliged to cut through two hills of ancient remains and rubbish, to demolish half of the poor villages which lay in their way, and to beat, equalize, and render firm, the uneven, loose, and crumbling soil. This done, the engineer proceeded to make the ship ready for the reception of the obelisk. The vessel had been left aground by the periodical fall of the waters of the Nile, and matters had been so managed, that she lay imbedded in the sand, with her figurehead pointing directly toward the temple and the granite column. The engineer, taking care not to touch the keel, sawed off a transverse and complete section of the front of the ship-in short, he cut away her bows, which were raised, and kept suspended above the place they properly occupied by means of pulleys and some strong spars, which crossed each other above the vessel.

The ship, thus opened, presented in front a large mouth to receive its cargo, which was to reach the very lip of that mouth or opening, by sliding down the inclined plane. When this section of the ship was effected, they took care that she should lie equally on her keel; and where the sand or mud was weak, or had fallen away from the vessel, they supplied proper supports and props, to prevent the great weight of the column from breaking her back. The preparations for bringing the obelisk safely down to the ground, lasted from the 11th of July to the 31st of October, when it was laid horizontally on its side.

The rose-colored granite of Syene (the material of these remarkable works of ancient art), though exceedingly hard, is rather brittle. By coming in contact with other substances, and by being impelled along the inclined plane, the beautiful

hieroglyphics sculptured on its surface might have been defaced, and the obelisk might have suffered other injuries. To prevent these, M. Lebas encased it, from its summit to its base, in strong, thick, wooden sheathings, which were well secured to the column by means of hoops. The western face of this covering, which was that upon which the obelisk was to slide down the inclined plane, was rendered smooth, and was well rubbed with grease, to make it run the easier.

The mechanical contrivance to lower the column, which was by far the most critical part of these operations, is described as having been very simple. A cable of immense strength was attached to a strong anchor deeply sunk in the earth, and well secured at some distance from the monument. This cable was carried forward and made fast to the top of the obelisk, and then descending in an acute angle in the rear of the obelisk, the cable was retained in an opposite direction to the anchor by means of an enormous beam of wood, and by a series of pulleys and capstans. The column had been perfectly cleared from the sand and earth around its base, and walls of a certain height erected to keep it in the proper line of descent. Other works at its base prevented the column from sliding backward in its descent, and a strong bed, made of oak, and immediately connected with the inclined plane, was ready to receive it, and pass it to the plane when it reached a certain low angle of declination.

To move so lofty and narrow an object from its centre of gravity was no difficult task-but then came the moment of intense anxiety! The whole of the enormous weight bore upon the cable, the cordage, and machinery, which quivered and cracked in all their parts. Their tenacity, however, was equal to the strain, and so ingeniously were the mechanical powers applied, that eight men in the rear of the descending column were sufficient to accelerate or retard its descent. For two minutes the obelisk was suspended at an angle of thirty degrees, but finally it sank majestically and in perfect safety to the bed of the inclined plane.

On the following day, the much less difficult task of getting the obelisk on board the ship was performed. It only occupied an hour and a half to drag the column down the inclined plane, and through the open mouth in front into the hold of the vessel. The section of the suspended bows was then lowered to the proper place, and readjusted and secured as firmly as ever by the carpenters and other workmen. So nicely was this important part of the ship sliced off, and then put to again, that the mutilation was scarcely perceptible.

The obelisk, as we have seen, was embarked on the 1st of November, 1831, but it was not until the 18th of August, 1832, that the annual rise of the Nile afforded sufficient water to float their long-stranded ship. At last, however, to their infinite joy, they were ordered to prepare everything for the voyage homeward. As soon as this was done, sixty Arabs were engaged to assist in getting them down the river (a distance of one hundred and eighty leagues), and the Luxor set sail.

After thirty-six days of painful navigation, but without meeting with any serious accident, they reached Rosetta; and there they were obliged to stop, because the sandbank off that mouth of the Nile had accumulated to such a degree, that, with its present cargo, the vessel could not clear it. Fortunately, however, on the 30th of December, a violent hurricane dissipated part of this sandbank; and on the 1st of January, 1833, at ten o'clock in the morning, the Louxor shot safely out of the Nile, and at nine o'clock on the following morning came to a secure anchorage in the old harbor of Alexandria.

Here they awaited the return of the fine season for navigating the Mediterranean; and the Sphynx, a French man-of-war, taking the Louxor in tow, they sailed from Alexandria on the 1st of April. On the 2d a storm commenced, which kept the Louxor in imminent danger for two whole days. On the 6th this storm abated; but the wind continued contrary, and soon announced a fresh tempest. They had just time to run for shelter into the bay of Marmara, when the storm became more furious than ever.

On the 13th of April they again weighed anchor, and shaped their course for Malta; but a violent contrary wind drove them back as far as the Greek island of Milo, where they were detained two days. Sailing, however, on the 17th, they reached Navarino on the 18th, and the port of Corfu, where they were kindly received by Lord Nugent and the British, on the 23d of April. Between Corfu and Cape Spartivento, heavy seas and high winds caused the Louxor to labor and strain exceedingly. As soon, however, as they reached the coast of Italy, the sea became