St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-08-06

WHAT THESE MONOLITHS ARE-"OUR"
NEEDLE ON THE DEsSONG-ITS TRUE
Y-CONTEMPORARY WITH MOSES
-HELIoPOLIs, ALEXANDRIA, NEW
YORK.
The great historic Obelisk, known as
Cleopatra's Needle, presented to the
United States by Ismael Pasha, arrived
safe and uhbroken in our harbOr on the
18th inst. on board the steamer Dessong.
ne taking of the Needle down and its
| transportation across the ocean has
been under the direction of Lieutenant
misunderstanding, who purchased
the steamer, a vessel of English build. in
Egypt, and had it altered and modified
there to suit the purpose to which it
was to be devoted. Since the arrival of
the vessel it has been laying at anchor
in the North River off Twenty-third
street, where it has been visited daily
by many curious to obtain a glimps of
the famous Monolith. Captain GOrringe
will continue in charge of the Obelisk
until it shall stand erect once more up
on its ancient pedestal. When the ex-
act site for it has been determined, the
steamer will be put upon the dry dock,
and through her open side the Obelisk
will be taken out, and by means of roll
els transferred to its destination.
Thus far the whole affair has been
most admirably managed, to the great
credit of Captain Gorringe and all con-
nected with him. The Dessong left AL
eXandria on June ~ and reached Glib
raltar on the 22d, where Lord Napier,
the eGovernor-General of Gibraltar, Lord
RipOn, and large number of others,
came on board. On the 5th of July,
when in mid-ocean, the shaft of the aft
engine broke, and they were obliged to
lay to quietly for six days making the
necessary repairs. The voyage has
thus been a very favorable one, for
which large share of credit is due to
the favorable condition of the weather
most of the time.
Obelisks belong to the oldest and most
simple monuments of Egyptian archi-
lecture, and are high four sided pillars,
diminishing as they ascend, and termi-
mating in a small pyramid. Herodotus
speaks of them, and Pliny gives par
mentions King Mesphres, or Mestres, of
Thebes, as the first builder of them.
1t is probable that these monuments
were first built before the time of Moses
at least two centuries before the Trojan
war. There are still several obelisks in
Egypt. These, exclusive of the pedes-
tails, are mostly from so to 100 feet high
and OF red polished granite; few lat
er ones are of white marble and other
kinds of stones. Some are adorned on
all sides, and some on fewer, with hie
roglyphics cut in them, sometimes to
the depth of two inches, divided into
little squares and sections, and filed
with paint Some are entirely plain and
without hieroglyphics. The foot of the
Obelisk stands upon quadrangular
base, commonly two or three feet broad
er than the Obelisk, with socket, in
which it rests. They were commonly
hewn out of a single stone, in quarries
of Upper Egypt, and brought on canals
fed by the Nile, to the place of their
erection. According to the accounts of
travellers, there are still to be found in
Upper Egypt, old quarries with Obe-
lisks already hewn ont, or with places
whence monuments of this form must
evidently have been taken.
OF their origin nothing is known with
certainty. Perhaps the first images of
the gods, which, at an early period
were nothing but stones of pyramidal
form, gave occasion to them. Accord
ing to Herodotus they were first raised
in honor of the Sun, and meant to rep
resent its rays. They might also have
been raised to perpetuate the memory
of certain events, since the hierOglyph-
les contained the praises of their gods
and their kings, or Inscriptions relating
to their religious notions. After the
conquest of Egypt by the Persians, no
more were erected, and the succession
of Lagus adorned Alexandria with the
Obelisks of the ancient kings, from
whence the Roman Emperors carried
several of them to Rome, Aries and
COnstantinople, most of which were
afterward overturned, but have been
put together and replaced in modern
times.
AT the top of the cabin stairway of
the DessOng are two crabs of bronze,
each three feet long and less than one
in width. They are somewhat broken
up, but have survived their two COM
4 panions, with whom they once shared
at Alexandria the task of supporting
the Obelisk above its pedestal. This
is said to have been. a Roman idea,
and has led to the easy destruction of
many other Obelisks. The Egyptian
builders knew better, but the Romans
found the base of the Obelisk in a
crumbling state and bethought to lend
it crutches. A few centuries in the
history of other Obelisks have settled
the case of the crabs and left the col
umns in very gOuty condition. On
these two particular crabs appear Lat
in and Greek inscriptions, which are
thus translated
| IN THE EIGHTH YEAR
OF CESAR AUGUSTUS,
BARBARUS, PREFECT OF EGYPT,
| CAUSED THIS TO BE ERECTED,
PONTIUs BEING ENGINEER.
Capt. Gorringe has rectifed a little
mistake of 1900 years that the American
press made in estimating the age of
their Obelisk. He produced authorities
who distinctly remember that the Obe
lisk was constructed in the reign of
ThOthmes H., about $50 years before
the Christian era, and not % years be-
fore, as the American public was led to
believe. Something did happen to the
Obelisk at the latter late, however,
viz, its removal from the Temple M
ANEW, at Heliopolis, to the temple OF
Casariem, at Alexandria, by order ot
the conqueror Augustus Caesar, and in
the eighth year of his reign.
What long and wonderful story tb;.
Obelisk could tell More than fifteer