The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-09 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

Wanderings in the Land of Barn. By a Daughter
of Japhet. Longman.
This volume is a record of a winter spent in
Egypt a few years since, by a young lady, her
mother, and invalid brother. Notwithstandies a
certain flippancy in the title and introduction,
which peeps out occasionally in her pages, when
she talks of " doing the Nile at seventeen," &c.,
the writer was fully impressed with the vast and
majestic character of the ruins she explored, which
she describes with all the enthusiastic fervour of a
youthful imagination. If she had not aimed at
any brilliancy or eloquence of style, but recorded
her opinions iu a simple and natural manner, her
book would have been very attractive, as convey-
ing the impression made on a young and inexpe-
rienced traveller by the marvels of the Pharoahe.
Where she has contented herself with doing this,
and we must admit that her flights of fancy are
only occasional, her sketches are lively and agree-
able. Indeed, her lively and animated pictures
may entertain many readers who might be wearied
by the sober and matter-of-fact accounts of more
serious travellers. Here is her description of
passing the cataracts— •
We were all seated on the roof of the cabins, and is
the midst of a din and uproar greater than I can de-
scribe, we left the moorings. Twelve oars, with three or
four men at each, took us speedily over the first rapid,
which is very slight, but in a few minutes the roar of
the waters, crested with foamy breakers, and the rushing
current announced our approach to the sec nd and
greatest rapid. Then came the " tug of war." For a
moment the Arabs were hushed ; the dragoman shouted
to us to keep still, and hold on, as before our eyes was
spread a sheet of foam, and the river dashed away be-
neath us, the huge waves breaking over each other, and
over the masses of granite, between which we had to
make our nay. The moment was one of the most in•
tense excitement—the boat seemed to pause for an in-
stant, the rowers hastily shipped their oars, and with a
sudden rush we were whirled down the rapid. It wag
now a struggle between the redder and the current ; if
the former gave way it would have been all up with us ;
the chaenel was very narrow, and we were apparently
steering right upon the frowning rocks, but n,act mo-
ment were dexterously turned aside, and again floated in
still water. It was a scene we shall never forget, and
must be seen to be appreciated. There were four men
at the tiller ; the whole was very skilfully managed ;
no water came into the cabins as often happens, and
it was only ankle-deep at the bows. The third and
last rapid of any magnitude was soon passed, and when
this was safely accomplished, the rais came forward to
shake bands with the gentlemen, who congratulated
him on his success; guns were fired to announce it;
the Tarrabukka was struck up, and the whole crew sang
and shouted till we reached Assouan ; we again fired
on our arrival, and the boats at anchor returned oar
salute. We had a beautiful ride at sunset to the top of
one of the neighbouring hills, whence we had a most
glorious view ; the lights over both river and desert
were rich and soft. A. modern Nile traveller has well
observed that the sun " glares" in Europe, but that it
" shines" in Egypt ; its light is quite different ; with us
the outlines of every object appear hard and stiff, but in
the East, a ithout the least hazi❑ess of atmosphere, they
seem subdued and mellowed.
Notwithstanding that one of the party was an in-
valid, and the other two, ladies, the little band
seem to have been sufficiently adventurous. They
descended the cataracts, as we have seen, and they
subsequently penetrated into the interior of the
Great Pyramid. The writer, quoting from her
favourite authority, Miss Martineau, tells us that
it is said to require more courage to go into than
to go up it, and she concurs in advising no one who
is likely to be overcome by the strange impression
of vastness and solidity, which strikes the explorer
On entering, to venture into the interior. They
had heard so much of the airlessness of the
interior that they thought the fewer guides
the better, so succeeded in starting with
only ten, leaving a few others at the opening
to prevent the rest of the loiterers from following.
The first passage they descended was about a hun-
dred feet lon.!, and three feet and a-half high, the
highest of all. They then climbed a perpendicular
wall of granite, and after passing two more long
passages, through one of which they could hardly
crawl, they reached the King's chamber, where
Cheeps, the founder of the Pyramids, is supposed
to rest. Another journey brought them to the
Queen's chamber, under the apex of the Pyramid.
It was indeed a strange feeling when we remem-
bered what acres of solid masonry separated us
from the open air. The chamber we were in, and
indeed every passage we had passed through, was
lined with blocks of polished granite, so closely
fitting that the point of a pin could not be inserted
between them. We were in the centre of the
.4reat Pyramid, but we did not feel alarmed. Ws
coolly talked over the chances of suffecai ion, and
the time that would elapse before we could possibly
get out, or obtain assistance. The heat was in-
tense, much greater than on the outside, but we
did not find it unbearable, and notwithstanding
the difficulties of success we did not for a moment
regret our trouble." They ware amused at the
refusal of a Crimean soldier, who was lingering
about the entrance, to advance more than a few
steps into the interior, and when asked if he could
not go where two ladies had been, replied that
there was nothing English ladies would Lot do
row-a-days. The author has collected the names
of the historical celebrities who have been connected
with her land of romance and marvels :
Hither in later ages resorted philosophers and ma-
thematieiatis, physicians and historians, lawgivers and
architects ; the distinguished series of celebrated men
sho are said to have carried Egyptian wisdom to the
Greeks begins as early as the mythical tunes. Danan■
brought the first germ of civilisation from Egypt to
Argos, and Erectheus king of Athens was considered by
11,)018 to have been an Egyptian, and to have taught the
Eleusinian mysteries according to the mariner of the
Egyptians. The holy singers of antiquity, Orpheus,
Museeus, Melainpus, and Eurnolpus thence acquired
their theological wisdom ; and even to Homer himself
Egypt was not unknown.
It was from Egypt that Lycergus and Solon trans-
ferred to their fatherland the wise regulations they be-
came acquainted with. The houses in Heliopolis in
which Plato and the mathematician Budeaus had lived
for thirteen years were shown to Strabo. Thales was
instructed by the Egyptian priests, and, as it is expressly
said, beside them bad no other teachers ; here he became
acquainted with the division of the year into seasons,
and into 365 days. Here a1,,0 he learnt to take the
mea-uremerit of high objects, such as the Pyramids, by
their shadow at a particular hour of the day. In this
country Arehimedes studied hydraulics and invented
his celebrated screw. Pythagoras was a long time in
Egypt, and in this city pondered the great mysteries
of the soul's existence and its relations to the Infinite ;
his doctrine of the immortality of the soul is distinctly
referred to by Herodotus to Egypt, in which country,
he says, this belief was first maintained. To Helio-
p lie came the Father of History, and four centuries
afterwards Diodorus and Strabo followed in his steps
to pore over sculptured hieroglyphics, papyrus records,
and dim traditions of this ancient people, this "first-
born of Time."
Leaving the wonders of Egypt with regret, the
travellers returned by Malta, Gibraltar, and Lis-
b,,n—the chronicler of their inventions giving us a
sketch of each locality. One of their travelling
companions spent the afternoon at Lisbon, at a
bullfight, which in Portugal is very curious.
The bulls have their horns tipped and padded ;
no horses are used, and the amusement consists is
seeing how high the bulls can toss any one who
likes to volunteer to amuse the company. Regular
practitioners attend, but any one who likes may
share in this singular amusement. Few accidents
are said to occur. In the appendix the author
offers some useful hints to those who intend mak-
ing the same interesting journey.

Photographic Portraits of Living Celebrities.
Mull and Polyblank.
The five numbers of this publication, now lying
on our table, present us . with the portraits of
Martin F. Tupper, F.R.S., Professor Faraday,
John Gibson, ILA., the Earl of Rosso, and
Charles Kean, Esq.,—each of whom, in his pecu
( liar walk, has strong claims on the interest and
admiration of the public. The faithfulness of re-
semblance, and exquisita pictorial effect which
always distinguish the works of these publishers,
amply merit the especial notice and liberal patron..
age bestowed on them. We light upon many pho.
ot(f) gra the p 4
h
h i e specimensum anform
iwhichvi
divine."
yve have mere d:te norfsieoeus
Grecian noses and short upper lips" so
vilely translated, that not a trace of the
classic original could be found. We have be-
held a fair, intelligent Saxon face so transmo-
grilled as to give us the lac-simile of a pudding-
mouthed, sentimental "nigger ;" and very recently
we stared for full five minutes at the "portrait of
a gentleman," without the most remote notion
trussing our brain, that it represented our hated
and too well known rival iu a severe case of " heart
complaint." Perfect photographs are invaluable ;
and those produced by Maull and Poly blank are
among the number to be so estimated. The like-
'less of Charles Kean strikes us as being unusually
excellent ; but the whole of the portraits are high-
class specan,,ms of this popular branch of the Fine
Arts.

MATRICIDE.—A terrible crime has been committed at
Trieste. A young workman, who maintained himsel
and Ida mother by his daily labour,' gained so little that
they lived molt wretchedly. By dint of privations be,
bowevtr, saved Pufficient to purchase a ticket in a lottery.
Toe draxing took place a few days ago, and his ticket
rained a prize of 16,000 florins. Wild with joy the
youa4 wan hurried to hie mother, informed her of his
good fortune, and asked her fur the ticket. " Alas, my
"," said she, "I sold it some time hack." Without
a word, the young man drew his knife and stabbed her
until she fell dead at hia feet. ifs was arrest :A the same
cy.