Wilmington journal., 1874-07-17

only say that read on a blank wall
of the inner pylon at Philac, the in
scription left by the French army in
1899, and which is given in Theirs
history of the French revolution. How
little / thought when reading it in
that book in my youthful days that l
| should see its original on the stone
where it was engraved. Translated
into English it reads thus
| 'sIn the 9th year of the Republic,
| the 18th Messidor, a French army,
| commanded by Bonaparte, landed at
Alexandria. Twenty days later. the
army having defeated the Memlooks
| at the Pyramids, Desaix, commanding
the 1st division, pursued them beyond
| the cataracts, where he arrived on the
| 18th Ventose of the year 7.
Generals Davoust, Friant, Belliard.
| Donzelot, chief of staff" &c.
| It is truly an historical page cngrav-
ed upon that perennial stone. What
names and recollections it brings.
The man who vas then simply called
Bonaparte," AID whose dynasty has
probably not vet finished its course.
Desaix, who was to fall at Marengo
leading his troops to victory which
was to make Bonaparte an emperor.
| Dayoust, the future Marshal. Friant
! and Donzelot, who fought their
last fight at Waterloo. On an
other panel is recorded the longitude
and latitude Of the place as observed
by the French Sayans who accompan-
| led the expedition and whose names
are engraved below. On the propy-
lon are also engraved the names Cf the
chiefs of the commission sent by Pope
Gregory XVI. in 1871.
These incriptions are all appropri-
ate and were placed on blank spaces.
But what must we think of the stu
| pidity Of those numberless travellers
who have disfgured ancient sculptures
and etfaccd valuable hieroglyphies to
! inform the world that Smith, or Jones
or f5nooks passed that way. Thou
sands upon thousands of unknown
! people have dcfaced barbarously the
| ancient monuments all over Egypt by
| inscribinG their obscure names. The
mania seems almost universal. 1t
would seem that it is only those whose
names were worth recording who have
abstained from this absurd vaddalism.
Ol the bare rocks of the desert the
practice is at least harmless, and we
were only amused, not Disguised, as
III the temples, Mt seeing the thousands
| Of names OF every language and ma
tionality on the sandstone cliffs and
caves near korCsko. We did not add
ours there, but for the benefit of future
English and American travellers we
lett on the face OF the rock the follow
ing inscriptions: Try Cookies Pills, ,"
"Helmbold's Buchu," ''Spalding's s
glue, for which gratlntous advertise.
mcnts the above mentioned lndividu-
1iais should be cnlincntly grateful as
we'll as the travelling public at large.
vt nhiI5r the river contracts between
ellis of lyenitic granite to breadth
not over 70 yards. The rocks are
5lackencd and polished by the waters
and III many places are deeply carved
with the Cartouchcs Of the Ptolemies
and other kings. The name of car
touchc has been givenb by Egyptologists
to the escUtcheons bearing the hyerog-
lyphics Of the kings of Egypt and
which are all distinctive of the mon
arch whose reign they commemorate.
i is these cartouches which have
thrown SO much light upon Egyptian
history and antiquities. The forma-
tion from above phii;c to below AssO-
llan IS that species OF red granite
called Sycnitic from the name
Of the ancient city Syenc, now
called Assouan. This material was en-
r!"yed by the ancient Egyptians for
their obe!Is!ls, statues. sarcophagi, &c
retains e ns5oS7 one 9'G # f' its most ' ~a1narI %
properties is the immensity of the
masses which can be cut out solid
without crack from the uuarries.
The obelisks', some of which are near
" one hundred feet in height. are all
m0no!;tis. In the quarries near AS
soltan, the traveller can still see the
places from which the immense stones
were c1lt out, and understand the pro-
cess by which il was done. A line of
holes was drilled along the surface of
the blocl intended to be cut ont. and
at proper distance from its face or
edge. Wedges of dry wood were
driven into these holes. These wedges
were then saturated with water. aud
the simultaneous pressure all along
the IIne would split off the stone from
It's bed. In one Of the quarries is still
found an unfinished obelisk about 90
feet long, just as it was left after
breaking of from the quarry.
From Philae to Assouan. our bao-
sage was transported around the cat
eract by land on camels, while we rode |
easily, swiftly and triumphantly on
donkeys. During high water, boats
can pass up and down the cataract, |
but 1t IS impossible at low water for
the rocks are too near the surface.
The height Of the fall varies with the
deptn OF the water, and is usually
about SIX or seven feet. The length
OF Its passage between the rocks is
about 200 feet and the breadth across
about 10 feet, and of course the cllr-
rent is extremely swift.
AT Assouan, while our baggage was
3m barking in new dahabeahs. We rode
9Ut to see the railroad now building
round the cataract and forming part
II the New Soudan Railway, which
Elll strike the Nile again far above
Gerber. 1t is progressing rapidly and
viii be opened to the public in com
'aratively short time. How STRANGE
seams that the telegraph and ,
all read have now reached even .
'eyond the limits of ancient Eeyptian .
lvllIzatlon, wEile steamers are con- :
family passing the ruins of Nemphis J
'hebes and karnak! /.
Assouan marks the limit between f
'ubla and Egypt. and here we had q
ne confirmation Of curious fact in /
atural history. Fleas, bugs ct id 0e- I
rs o1inc cannot live in Nubia, ALWAYS a
zceptlng flies, mosquitoes and the r
Ike; but Egypt is their paradise. The |,
we had above Assouan were s.
arfectly free from annoyances of that h
nd, bnt when we got aboard the q
hers, the first night we were driven i
1t Of our berths with great slaughter 4
I'd considerable blood letting. Only S
vigorous warfare aided by the ex. il
act OF delphinium. enabled Us to re- 81
IN possession of the cabin for the ta
st OF the Journey. ty
A few miles below Assouan. the &C
ante formation disappears, being
erlald by the sandstone of the tri, al
SIC; all the intermediate geological g
'ata are wanting in this LOCALITY. in
us rs sandstone, which appears in low of
It's along the river bank. furnished re
material for all the great temples re
Egypt. The stone was transported E,
the river both up and down. The to
nples of PhilN and above are con- be
ucteu of it. as we'll 10 +boso 90 La