Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1853-03-24

than the savages Of our wilderness. have look
Il ed into hundreds of habitations having no roof
and only loose stalks or mat for shelter their
only sleeping place a mat upon the ground. and
their only furniture skilic,s pots and water jars,
and but few Of these,-iher sheep and goats
sharing the same enclosure with themselves
The better class of buildings are made Of sum
burnt brick, and rooted with a coating Of clay
laid upon cane stalks. having few loop holes at
the sides TO admit air. saw but two buildings
having floors and glass windows in all Upper
Egypt, the furniture Of the last consisting Of
rugs aud little additional clothing. Without
seeing, It is impossible To form any idea Of the
destitute and degraded condition Of the people
here and this the country which was once the
light of the world How great is Egyptian dirk.
ness. Pharaoh's chariots have all disappeared
from the land and | saw neither carriage orcart
Of any kind. every thing being picked on camols
; or donkeys They seem an iudoleut and inofon-
sive race, cou,onied with their poverty and rags
They are very temperate, using no ardent spir
its, and live almost entirely on vegetable food,
eggs coffee and the milk of goats Great NUN
bcrs Of the men have lost one eye. and IL has
been asserted thot they pot one out Intentionally
to avoid military conscnpton; be this as Il may,
nearly all have very feeble and sore eyes, and
have been inclined to believe that Il arose fire.
quently from infection carried by the flies from
one to another. In all the villages the flies are
extremely annoying, and if you see peison
asleep his face will be covered with flies They
live ia the same villages as their fathers did be-
for them for thousands Of years, their unburnt
brick and mud walls constantly crumbinq to
decay, and the next generation building upon
the accumulated ruins Of the past, until nearly
all the villages raised thirty or forty feet a.
boye the surrounding level. These villages are
generally surrounded by the Date Palm tree.
giving them very beautiful appearance in The
distance, and with the exception Of the Date,
saw no fruit trees of any kind above Cairo and
few sycamore and acasia trees for shade are
the only other trees seen upon the river. The
late Pacha Nahomed Ali, was man of great
enterprise and liberal views, and did much to
improve the condition Of his subjects but when
darkness has triumphed so long, i is impossible
in the lifetime Of one man 10 produce an entire
revolution. lie introduced the cultivation off
cotton, which hes now become source Of much
wealth. Tie erected several steam sugar mills .
and extended the cultivation ofthe cane He
established schools IN muny pIaces, which are
STEADILY progressing and VIII do much good
The people must become enlightened before
they can comprehend whit is best for thcIt own
interest. Amidst such degradation and misery
it Is wonderful to find the ruins Of the temples
Of antiquity.
Of all the cities which have ever existed in
Egypt, Alexandria alone at the present time
seems prosperous, and She has not d tiihe of her
ancient ma nlhcence. Cairo seems ia Il trans,-
ton state aud fast hastenlng to ruin. llchopols
and Memphis have not one stone left upon an-
other TO mark their ancient glory and Thebes.
once the most renowned city in Egypt, has only
the scattered runs Of her temples to prove that
she ever existed but those are noble, majestic.
even IN their desolation. The remains of sever
al temples are now to be be seen at Thebes, but
suppos'tion that any description that ! could
give would present them in any new light butt
! viii give you an idea Of the largest one as al
now exists. The outer wall enclosed space
about 300 by 1900 feet, and much Of that wall,
TO the height Of twenty feet, is now Standing
The Interior was divided into various courts,
corridors, temples and halls The grand hall
covered an area Of l70 BY go feet tha roof oil
which was supported by l3l columns, the
twelve central ones being G6 ictt high and
twelve in diameter. These columns were form
ed of blocks of sand stone neatly finished and
covered with images and hieroryplcs frgm
top to bottom. They are now nearly am standug,
though most Of the roof has fallen and filled ihe
interior several feet with rubbish. know of no
building Of modern date that can compare with
that hail for massive architecture bat IL was fl-
led by the columns, and could never have had
the beauty OF design Of 81. Peters az Rome
The sculpture, like that Of an the other tcmples.
Is rude, the figures having nothing of grace or
beauty about them. In other parts of the en-.
closure within the walls aye many columns still
standing and two obelisls Of granite. the larger
of which IS Of one block ninety feet high aud
eight square at the base, while its fellow hes
PROSTATE and broken near 1t. AT Denderch.
Ediou aud other places, the temples are IN
much more perfect condition as a whole. but not
d equal magnitude, and the beauty OF nearly all
Is greatly diminished by the accumulation Of
sand and rubbish about them. The natives are
very fond of building their huts against the walls.
and such has been the accumulation from the
perishable nature of the material used. that in
many places 1t rises above the temples them.
selves, and IN many cases they have covered
the roofs Of the temples with their miserable
huls. The contrast between those noble works
ofantiquity and the mud hats by which they are
surrounded is like the contrast between light
and darkness
1t was not for the living alone, that the ancient
Egyptians built temples, but they hau their mau-
soeums for the dead of nearly equal splcndor.-
Many of the tombs of the Kings near Thebes
extended four hundred feet into the solid rock.
having large rooms with pillars scup,ured and
painted, equal to those Of the temples Many
of those tombs have been desccrated through