The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1866-05-26

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Castor paid no heed to here SSgY on
see, said he, that they have little
to eat except what grows, and when
as happens every year-the river be-
comes SO full that it runs over, the
water covers their fields, and when it
settles, leaves all this mud lying there
which makes everything grow aston
ishingly"
How happens that the water don't
wash away the seed ?'' asked Nep, who
began to take deep interest in Cas-
tor 5 story. And how do they plant
under the water?4 Swim out, sup
pose?"
little boats, and drop the seeds into
the water.
'iAnd 1 suppose the people go about
in boats, too, continued Nep. What
kind of folks are they?"
Miserable enough, those that live
there now" answered Castor, but
master says they used to be the great
est and wisest people in the world
And you'd believe it, if you could just
see the parts that are still standing of
their old templesl Why. any one of
them is as large as this whole village,
and yet more than half is buried in the
sand"
"Sand 2" cried Nep. 81 thought
it was all mud just nowl
g Be civil, youngster ~ said Castor,
shaking his head threateningly.
1Don't betray your ignorance, There
| is mud enough, but ON each side of
the country it is bordered with hum
| dreds of miles of sand, deep sand.
/ And that sand the wind blows in and
chokes and fills up every thing. But
you could never guess what these great
temples were built for.
Nep confessed himself unable to do
/ so, and begged to know their object.
i y Why,'T said Castor "for their
strange, queer gods to live irs and the
priests that waited on them With
all their wisdom, master says they did
not know anything about the. great
j God who made the world, though they
were always trying to find out some
thing about him; so they prayed and
gave thanks to everything that was of
the least use to them, even the food
that supported their life-leeks and
onions; but they didn't make temples
for them, though That honor was
paid only to the animal gods, and
i queer party it was, from bulls and
COWS down to cats; and he cast sly
i look towards lib.
HPshaw Castor, you are making
fun! cried Nep, with another frlsk,
and the poodle, who had joined them,
bow WOW d with delight at the joke;
bat lib pricked her ears, though she
maintained her dignity.
Indeed am not" exclaimed
Castor earnestly. & assure you, i
have myself seen the mummies of the
sacred cats
what are mummies2H cried all at
once. taAa ssA#
Dried bodies answered Castor.
They have way, or had, of keeping
the bodies of people and sacred ami
mails that died, because they believed
just what l heard Miss Grace here
telling the children one day, that,
some time or another, these dead peo-
pie are all to come to life again and
: live in some better way Of course
they will want their bodies, and SO
{ they try to keep them for them
think it is a very sensible plan, and
they showed deal more wisdom In
!, their way of burying than people dc
: here. Here they just box them up
4 and put them in the ground, as if they
never thought that the dampness
a would make them mould and spoil; but
e there, they drew out the brains and
$ all the other soft parts that would
e spoil soon, filed up the spaces with
!; paste made of gums and spices; ano
l then wrapped the body outside il
0 long strips of linen, wound round anC
q round. Then they put it into a box
7 and that in another, to keep all tigh'
and dry; and what was wisest of all
d perhaps, on the top of the outside boz
r they painted the likeness of the per
n son within, and wrote his name anC
n all about him besides; so when the
$ soul came back it could find its Owl
e body at once, without the trouble O
Z hunting it out. These boxes they put
1 in great holes cut in the sides of rocks
e and painted all the walls inside with
y the life and trade of the man they pu
d in it."
:, Did you ever see any mummiei
d yourself 2" asked lib, now wide
G awake
} " Yes, indeed thanks to master,
IS replied Castor for they worshippeC
" cats, they seemed to have a horrorgo
dogs, and wanted to kick me on
i wherever | went, but my master youl'
a not let them Yes, indeed, / saw ma
Is ny, and the paint was as bright ant
y fresh as ever But for the cats, the
ID took us down under the ground int,
+, great pits, almost filled to the top wit
is the mummies of cats and eroeodiles
and of the priests that waited on them
They crack under your feet like pa