been only once discovered on the walls of a tomb; the bear in more than one. Speaking of the latest epoch of Egyptian arts, Mr. W. observes, "That they borrowed nothing from the Greeks, will never be questioned by any one in the least acquainted with Egyptian antiquities; though some have imagined that the accession of the Ptolemies introduced a change or even an improvement in the style of the Egyptian sculpture. A change had, indeed, already commenced, and was making fatal progress during the era of those monarchs; but this was the prelude to the total decadence of Egyptian art, and shortly after the Roman Conquest, the human figure, the hieroglyphics, and even the subjects represented in the temples, scarcely retained a trace of their former spirit. Yet their edifices were grand and majestic, and the antiquary feels additional regret as he contemplates the remains of that era, be speaking still the existence of Egyptian science, whose unworthy sculpture betrays the secret of its downfall. Architecture, more dependent on adherence to certain rules than the sister art, was naturally less affected by the decline of the taste and ingenuity of its professors; and, as long as encouragement was held out to their exertions, the grandest edifices might yet be constructed from mere imitation, or from the knowledge of the means necessary for their execution. But this would never be the case with sculpture, which had so many more requisites than previous examples, or mere custom. Nor could success be attained by the routine of mechanism, or the servile imitation of former models." The fifth chapter opens with a brief notice of the manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians, deduced from a comparison of the sculptures of the tombs of Thebes, with the accounts given by ancient authors; to which are added some remarks on the agricultural productions and government of the present day. This is an interesting and very instructive part of the work. Mr. Wilkinson has some elevation plans from the tombs, by which he has been able to lay down the ground-plan of some of their ancient houses; and he has also been able to trace the plans of several of the real houses in the ruins of Alabastrum. These houses consisted frequently of a ground floor and an upper story, with a terrace cooled by the air, which a wooden mulguf conducted down its slope. The entrance was closed by a door of a single or double valve, and the windows had shutters of a similar form. Sometimes the interior was laid out in a series of chambers, encompassing a square court, in whose centre stood a tree, or font of water. Many were surrounded with an extensive garden with a large reservoir for the purpose of irrigation. Lotus flowers floated on the surface; rows of trees shaded its banks; and the proprietor and his friends frequently amused themselves there by angling, or by an excursion in a light boat rowed by his servants. Many of the wealthier Theban citizens possessed their country houses, or the sacerdotal and military nobles their parks, rapadeirovs, where they amused themselves with fishing, or the chase. The garden was divided into the vineyard, orchard, date and dôm grove; besides the flower-garden, intersected by walks, shaded with rows of various trees, trimmed apparently in a rounded form. The vineyard was one of the principal objects of their care, and was watered by the pole and buckets, or by pails filled at the tank, and carried by a yoke on their shoulders. Here Mr. Wilkinson makes the remark "That those who could invent machinery for the transport and erection of the stupendous blocks of ponderous granite which still remain to attest their ingenuity, could not be ignorant of a much less laborious mode of irrigation than mere manual labour. They were remarkable for their learning, and for their skill in every branch of science; and therefore however I feel inclined to admire the sage institutions and well-known wisdom of the Egyptian priests, I cannot but blame such marked neglect of the comforts of their people on these occasions." Perhaps the answer to this is, in the abundant population not requiring the assistance of machines for their domestic culture of the fields. The poorer people drank beer which they pressed from barley, and Diodorus says it was not much inferior to wine, and an acidity which we give by the hop was imparted to it by the lupine, and some Assyrian root. The seeds and roots of the nymphæa lotus were eaten as bread; and the nymphæa nelumbo, or faba Egyptiaca, was eaten in the same way. This last plant is not now known in Egypt, and the nymphæa lotus grows only in small ponds or canals, but not on the Nile. The stalk and root of the papyrus were also eaten: Herodotus recommends it baked. The most noted trees were the the ficus sycamore, fig, pomegranate, peach, olive, persea, Palma Christi, the mimosa Nilotica, and the carob-tree. The juice of the pomegranate was used for its red dye, and was known under the name of balaustium or rodon-the rose. What tree the Persea was, does not seem quite clear; Mr. W. considers it the Balanites Egyptiaca, no longer a native of the Valley of the Nile. The mimosa Nilotica is used in its bark for tanning, its wood for boat-building, its gum is sold in the markets. The grain cultivated was wheat, barley, doora, peas, beans, lentils, and many other vegetables. "The barley was smitten; the wheat and the rye were not smitten, for they were not grown up." Beans, the abhorrence of the priesthood, were grown in Egypt from an early time, but did not constitute, as at present, the chief food of the lower orders. What was the reason assigned for the priests considering beans impure, Mr. W. does not seem to think ascertained. He called it a mysterious abhorrence, which Pythagoras probably borrowed from the Egyptians perhaps there are some sexual ideas connected with the feeling. Flax, from which was made the fine linen of Egypt, was much grown, and sesamum for oil. : For the sports of the field-fishing, fowling, and the chase, were those which the old Nimrods of Egypt preferred: but they had no double-barrelled Mantons, nor Spanish pointers, nor percussion locks: we are sorry to say that the venerable regal personages who sat on the throne of Egypt, knew no better sport than to catch geese in traps, or knock them down with sticks; and that the angler's skill was confined to what men in Suffolk call 'pritching for eels.' The hippopotamus was killed in a manner similar to harpooning whales: the lion also was used for hunting by the Egyptians, as we believe he is still in Nubia, but we should not conjecture with much success. The animals hunted with dogs were the gazelle, wild goat, sheep, stag, wild ox, ostrich, hare, and some beasts of prey. A standing army was maintained by the Egyptian government for garrisons and active service. The arms of the soldiers were a bow, shield, sword, battle axe, knife, spear, club, sling, and the curved stick still used by the Ethiopians, and thrown with such fatal accuracy and effect. Their games were wrestling, cudgelling, catching the ball, leaping, racing, but not cricketing, which the god Hermes boasts is his last and noblest invention, and which has only been practised subsequent to the dynasty of Osymandyas. The musical instruments were the harp, guitar, lyre, flute, pipe, tamborine, cymbals, drum, trumpet. The guitar was played with the plectrum, the drum beaten with the hand. At the entertainments, music and the dance were indispensable. The nobility arrived to dinner in a chariot and pair, with running footmen carrying a stool, as the steps of the carriage was an invention too refined for the builders of pyramids. If they stopt all night, they brought their inkstands. On entering the dining-room, one servant took off their sandals, and another oiled their faces and hands; then a crown of flowers was put on their heads, and they were seated on low camp-stools: the ladies sat at a separate table. The furniture resembled ours-stools, chairs, sofas, ottomans, couches,all made by good cabinet-makers, and neatly veneered. We are sorry to have to say, that at the ladies' table moderation was not always preserved; and that they indulged rather too freely those satirical rascals their husbands, have perpetuated in too many paintings to leave any doubt. They dined, like Queen Bess and her courtiers, about the prick of noon,' and the table groaned beneath good joints of beef, fish, geese, and game, with vegetables and fruits they used the same five-pronged forks which Adam and Eve did-to help themselves; and neither English knives nor Chinese chopsticks were in use. Wine was handed about in porcelain or silver cups like Joseph's, and sometimes gold, and glass. After dinner, Rameses the Third, and Psamaticus the Second, and Osirtesen the First, used to play at draughts, or laugh with the court-jester, or play tricks like the Grand Sultan with his buffoons and dwarfs. The lower orders had bull-fights, snake-players and conjurors, leapfrog, chuckfarthing, and many other games as well known by the Nile as by the Thames. With regard to their animals, the camel is not found in their sculptures or paintings; but it was well known in Egypt from a remote period; see Genesis xi. 16, and they were among the presents made to Abraham by the Egyptian monarchs. They had oxen, long and short-horned; sheep, goats, swine, gazelles; but sheep were not eaten; they did not know the luxury of a fine haunch of mutton, such as one gets at the Bedford in perfection: goats were kept for milk; and swine, under any form, sucking-pig, sausages, ham, or pork-chops, were never touched. It is a curious superstition that prevents their having milk maids in Egypt; the men always perform that office. They had good poultry-yards, and pigeonhouses, and hatched their eggs in heated rooms. They had not Fahrenheit's thermometers, but from 86 to 88 would be the average heat given. In modern times their step-mother, the oven, only succeeds in raising her offspring during about two months of the year, from 23rd February to 24th April. The industry of man was seconded by the fine climate of Egypt; and the sheep were twice shorn and twice produced lambs in the course of one year. Their money was in rings of silver and gold, and its value was ascertained by weight, its purity by fire. Gold was brought to Egypt, in rings, in bars, or fine dust. Gold mines existed in the Deserts of Thebais. Iron also was not unknown. Under the Ptolemies the population amounted to about seven millions; the revenue to 12,500 talents, or about three or four millions sterling. They had commerce on the Red Sea, to Arabia, and Abyssinia. Nero employed Phænician mariners, who actually doubled the Cape of Good Hope twenty-one centuries before its discovery by Dioz and Vasco di Gama. The Carthagenian expedition under Hanno was about three hundred years after. Thus they knew the shape of the continent of Africa; and it is said that Sonchis the priest gave Solon some information about America, but of what nature we do not know; for Solon kept it all to himself. However, some sober and judicious men see a sufficient resemblance between the Mexican and Theban hieroglyphics, architecture, &c. to make it possible that the Chactaws, Chippesaws, and Cherokees of the present day, are the lawful progeny of Pharaoh. But this is a great truth, and we had rather decline examining it. Their dress was according to their caste. The priests' was much varied. The workmen had merely a short apron fastened round the waist. The children were dressed by the hand of Nature, and the whole expense of bringing up a child to man's estate, amounted to about thirteen shillings and sixpence. The men wore earrings, necklaces, and bracelets : 'Pharaoh took off his ring, and put it on Joseph's hand, and put a gold chain about his neck.' The custom of embalming, though little understood in its details, is well known. The bodies of the poorer classes were wrapped round with palmsticks, and deposited in pits; sycamore and deal were used for the coffins of the mummies. The intestines were placed in jars, and buried near the sarcophagus and wax figures of the four genii representing the four principal parts of the body, were deposited with them. Their glass and porcelain vases were beautiful; and Mr. W. says they possessed an art, now lost, "of carrying devices of various colours directly through the fused substances." Of the early epoch at which glass was known in Egypt, Mr. Wilkinson observes, that besides finding the process represented at Beni Hassan and Thebes, he has seen a ball of this substance which bears the name of Amunneitgori, who lived about the commencement of the 18th dynasty, about 1800 B. C.; it has a slight greenish hue. To pass now from ancient to modern Egypt, we will give a short list of the seasons in which their principal fruits ripen : Mulberry-January. Cucifera Thebaica-March, April. Apples-end of June. Pears-Do. Carob-end of June. Figs-July. Sycam. Figs-April to Sept. Dates-August, (at Dahrout, the Dôm Of dates, there appear to be about twenty different kinds. The locality of the various plants is well known. Clover is abundant in Lower Egypt and the Delta; rarely cultivated in the Thebaid, where its place is supplied by gilbaù. Rice exclusively belongs to the Delta and Oases. Cole-seed, selgam, poppies, lettuces, confined to Upper Egypt, where also the greatest quantity of holcus is cultivated. Date trees are more abundant in the North; and vines, figs, roses, olives, are limited to the fyoom and the gardens of large towns. The culture of cotton, owing to the expenses, and the land and other taxes, is very disadvantageous to the peasant. Indeed the numerous exactions of the provincial governors have the invariable effect of leaving the peasant always in arrears. The revenue of Egypt is variously estimated, but appears to be between 2,100,000, and 3,000,0007, sterling. The salaries of some of the officers, civil and military, are far greater than suits our cheap government here at home, and the Member for Lincoln would certainly reduce them. Ahmed Pasha Taher, and Ahmed Pasha of Mekka, had each above 5000 purses, or 35,0007. The Kiaiha Bey has 3000 purses or 21,0007.; a general of division has 400; a major-general 350; a general of brigade 300 purses, &c. These are all paid from the Government Treasury. The exactions of the governors of districts and their frauds, are a far more serious scourge to the agriculturist than the taxation of the Government, severe as it is; and Mohammed Ali is still looked upon by the peasant as his friend against meaner tyrants. GENT. MAG. VOL. V. 3 N The rent of houses varies from 5000 to 50,000 piasters. Interest of money per annum without security-60 per cent. Interest with security 24 per cent.; day's labour of bricklayer 1 piaster; price of a black slave (boy), 500 to 1000 piasters; Do. for a girl 800 to 1000 piasters; eunuchs, 1000 to 1500 piasters; Abyssinian boys, 7000 to 1000 piasters; white boys (Mamlouks), 2000 to 5000 piasters; Ditto girls, 1500 to 10,000 piasters. The famous emerald mines are far less interesting than might be supposed. They have been successively opened by the ancient Egyptians, the Caliphs, the Mamlonks, and the present Pacha, but have not produced emeralds of any value. They lie in micacious schist, and numerous shafts of considerable depth have been excavated at the base of the mountain ; the largest extending downwards at the angle of 370, to the distance of about 360 feet, being 318 feet in horizontal length, and 215 in perpendicular depth. The earliest Egyptian edifices were built of lime-stone, which continued in use till the commencement of the 18th dynasty; though the Pharaohs of the 16th had introduced sand-stone to build the walls of the larger temples and its fitness for masonry, its durability, and the evenness of its grain, became so esteemed, that from that time it was almost exclusively used in building the monuments of the Thebaid. But as its texture was less suited for the reception of colours than limestone, they prepared its surface with a coat of calcareous composition. Their paint was mixed with water, the reds and yellows being ochre, the greens and blues, from copper; the former colours, and the lamp-black, are so carefully prepared, that Mr. W. has been enabled to form cakes of what remains, after a lapse of 3000 years, which might yet be employed in representing on paper the colour of figures copied from Egyptian ruins. The white appears to be a pure lime; the brown, orange, and compound colours formed from a combination of the above. They were carefully kept from the effect of rain. We shall end by transcribing some observations on the pointed arch, as found inthe buildings in Egypt. "The pointed arch was evidently employed in Egypt some time previous to the accession of the Fatemite dynasty, and consequently long before it was known in any part of Europe. The assertion of some antiquaries, that the pointed arch was the invention of our English ancestors, cannot be the result of minute or unbiassed investigation and it will be admitted by any man of sound judgment, that we are indebted for our knowledge of Saracenic architecture to its parent countries, Syria and Egypt. Indeed, is it reasonable to suppose that we can claim the credit of having invented, as late as the 13th century, what was already in common use, in those countries, at least as early as the year 879 A.D.; a fact, which I can without contradiction affirm, from a careful examination of a work supported and ornamented by pointed arches, and erected at that time by Ahmet ebn e' Tooloon, and which, with its Cufic inscriptions, bearing the date 265 of the Hegira, still exists in the Egyptian metropolis. Indeed, were the date not present to decide the question, the style of the Cufic would at once point out, to any one conversant with that character, and with the different forms it assumed at subsequent epochs, the antiquity of these inscriptions; and as in the case of the Meggleas, or Nilometer, at the isle of Rhoda, which is also constructed with pointed arches, remarkably well built with a central or key stone, would suffice to prove they were of an era anterior even to the accession of our Norman dynasty. The work of Sultan Nahem has also pointed arches, with an inscription bearing date 393 A.H. or 1003 A.D. the 7th year of his reign." We now take our leave of a work which has afforded us much very interesting information, concerning the inhabitants of a country, the oldest and most venerable which history acknowledges, and which is even now awful in its ruins a country and a people, whose origin, &c. is perhaps alone to |