The native American., 1839-01-12

places to the breadth OF a mile, or perhaps TWO
miles from the river; and in other places only a
quarter of mile. The city seems to have rested
on the bases Of the mountains which rise on each
side OF this alluvial plain for where the PLAN
ends, an undulang surface of rock, and Of sand
from the disihtegration of the rock, retreats back
IN some points mile in extent to the perpendicu-
lar elevation oil the mountains. -Four miserable
villages occupy at this day the cities of the prlncl
pal temples OF the ancient city,-Gornou, Mcdl-
|net-Habou, Luxor and Karnak.
After many ravages of conquering nations,
and so long succession OF barbarous centuries, it
is astonishing that any monument of the ancient
I city still remains nothing does, save the stnpcp-
1ous piles and ruins of its temples. The temples
themselves distant from one another, and on
both sides Of the river, that they canrot well be
distinguished otherwise than separately, so that
the first view of Thebes is almost necessarily that
of disappointment. The traveller comes up the
river with floating and confused picture in his
mind of the vast fields Of ruins like those of Tad
NOR in the desert, and he sees absolutely nothing.
The hundred gates disappear, and he is obliged TO
wander perhaps several miles with guide, un!es,
he begins on the east side of the river at the teu-
pie of LuoXr which Is close to the shore, before he
ran find solitary ruin But after he has visited
them all, and the mind, taking in the great en-
closure surveys the plan, and brings them to-
geher in its meditations, the disappt ntment gives
place to unmingled astonshment and admiration :
the images of desolation and of grandeur seem
again 10 multiply, and one is led to speak OF Thebcs
and its stupendous remains in such a nan
ner, that the same disappointment must incvta
bly, be produced at first in every mind which
takes its previous impressions, and forms its eX-
pectations from such exaggerated praise. Exag
gerated it seems till actual observation and medi-
tation among the great realities has brought them
81 lo,r hoc
enthusiastic feeling, under the influence of which
such description is but the natural picture of the
scene. The feeling belongs to the scene just as
truly and as sacredy as the pillars of its temples but
no mere description can infuse it into the mind Of
another it can be the result only of medltatlve
mood, an inward imaginative voyage along
the kingdoms, continents, and cities of past
world, and amidst the striking history of their
grandeur and decay. To witness or describe
such scene without such feeling would de-
fraud it, would do it injustice; to witness it so,
would disarray it of its interest and conceal its
beauty from ones own mind,-to decrbe it So
would obscure and degrade it for the mind Of
another. It would be like stealing from the sky
of Italy or Attica those magic tnts which bathc the
whole landcape in beauty not its own, and trans
NIT it to the eye like field of Paradise iii heaven
rather than a scene of earth Or, may say, il
would be like robbng one of Claude Lorraine's
landscapes of its deep and glowing atmosphere, to
present them to the eye meagre outline OF hills
and trees and valleys.
With all its modern misery and degradation
Egypt cannot cease to be country of the deepest
interest to reflective mind ' 1t may be asserted,
perhaps" says Foster, that Egypt surpasses
every tract in the world 1--WE know not that paEes-
tine is an excepton) in the power of fascinating
a contemplative spirit, SO long the contemplation
cha dwell siynlv n the ancient Ry
our associations with this reg ion from those mem
orable transactions and phenomena recorded in the
sacred history, the mag gination has been, SO to
speak, permanently located in it, as field crowded
with primeval interests and wonders" Surprising
indeed are the subjects it offers for refection,-
"the supernatural phenomena, the stupendous con-
strnctons, the trowning grandeur, ;he veed in
telligence, the homage almost to adolatlon render
ed to DEATH and the absorption of nations living
powers in the passion for leaving impregnable
monuments, in which, after their brief and NOR
tai existence, they should remain memorable for
ever"
There are other causes Of interest if possible
still greater have said, with nN its modern mis-
cy md degradation; but in one respect that very
degradation is source Of the greatest interest, as
showing the complete lulfiment of the prophecies
recorded in the Scriptures Doubtless it is well
worth the time, the labor, and the expenses of a
journey into this country, and voyage along its
mighty ancient river, to witness and realize the
accomplishment of such predictions 1t is worth
a great deal, that vivid sense of the truth Of God
which cannot but be impressed anew upon the
mind, in the midst of the very theatre Of his fore
told indignation executed upon a great kingdom.
From village to village and from point to point in
the valley of the Nile, whether wandering amidst
mud novels and degraded peasantry upon the land
or dragged slowly along by Arab boatmcn on the
river, the conviction is dcepened by every day
experience, that Egypt is indeed the basest of
kangdoms." On the other hand, both the grandeur
and dolatry of ancient Egypt are atested BY those
gigantic monuments, still scattered over the land
the intelligent witnesses and historians at once of
the nations greatness and depravity.
1t was not till after voyage up the Nile from
Cairo, Of nearly two weeks in duration that we
arrived in the evening at Gornou, on the western
side of the river and found ourselves really the
outskirts Of the an cient Thebes. We moored forl
the night near to an English boat, hard by or al
boat inhabited by Englishmen, and engaged an
Arab guide to come to Us by sunrise in the morn
zcI