A report has reached Europe that this remarkable person has conceded to his people the benefits of a representative government and a voice in the administration of public affairs. But the information is much too vague to be entitled to a place in the records of history.

The future prosperity of Egypt depends in a great degree upon the successor of the present viceroy. Ibrahim, the son of his wife, and the Defturder, who is his son-inlaw by marriage, will probably divide the choice of Mohammed. The former is more likely to obtain the recommenda tion of the pasha and the sanction of the Sublime Porte, because he is more friendly than the other to the regeneration which has been effected throughout the country with results so favourable even to the supreme government Should the election fall on the husband of Ali's daughter, the consequences will be deplorable; for he is not only a decided enemy to the Franks and to the late innovations, but regards them both with the eye of a bigoted Mussul

man.

in the perfect security and quietness that reign throughout his dominions. The traveller there dreams no more of violence than he would do in any town throughout Scotland or Wales; from the capital to the Cataracts every man's hand is at peace with him, and he may ramble along the banks of the Nile with as entire an ease and abandon as on those of his native rivers or in his own garden at home.-Recollections of the East p. 284

CHAPTER IX.

The Oases, Ancient Berenice, and Desert of the Thebard. Meaning of the Term Oasis-Those of Egypt described in various and opposite Colours-Used as Places of Exile--Their Number-The Great Oasis-Described by Sir A. Edmonstone-Ancient Buildings— Necropolis or Cemetery-Supposed Origin of such Land-Western Oasis-First visited by Sir A. Edmonstone-El Cazar-Soil-Position -The Little Oasis-El Kassar-Greek Temple-Fountain-El Haix-El Moele-Oasis of Siwah-Description of Towns-Of the Temple of Jupiter Ammon-Fountain of the Sun-Sacred Lake-Other Oases -Desert of the Thebaid-Berenice-Trade-Account of an imaginary City by Caillaud-Situation and Extent of Berenice-Emerald Moun tains-Present Condition of Miners-Inhabitants of the DesertSharkin-Myos Hormus-Cosseir.

THE territory of Egypt includes certain fertile spots in the Libyan desert, which, from the peculiarity of their situation, amid an ocean of sand, have been denominated islands. The term oasis, in the ancient language of the country, signifies an inhabited place, a distinction sufficiently intelligible when contrasted with the vast wilderness around, in which even the most savage tribes have not ventured to take up their abode. It has been observed, at the same time, that as this descriptive epithet is applied to a cluster of oases as well as to a single spot of verdant ground, the use of it has become somewhat ambiguous. this respect, indeed, they bear a striking resemblance to islands in the great sea, where one of larger size is usually surrounded by others of smaller dimensions; all taking their name from some circumstance, geographical or physical, which is common to the whole.

In

Like Egypt itself, these isolated dependencies have been described in very opposite colours by different writers. The Greeks called them the islands of the blessed; and without doubt they appear delightful in the eyes of the traveller who has during many painful weeks suffered the privations and fatigue of the desert. But it is well known

that they were generally regarded in a less favourable aspect by the Greeks and Romans, who not unfrequently assigned them as places of banishment. The state malefactor and the ministers of the Christian church, who were sometimes comprehended in the same class, were, in the second and third centuries, condemned to waste their days as exiles in the remote solitude of the Libyan Oasis. They were usually reckoned three in number; the Great Oasis, of which the principal town is El Kargeh; the Little Oasis, or that of El Kassar; and the Northern Oasis, more frequently called Siwah. To these is now added the Western Oasis, which does not appear to have been mentioned by any ancient geographer except Olympiodorus, and which was never seen by any European until Sir Archibald Edmonstone visited it about ten years ago.

The Great Oasis, the most southern of the whole, consists of a number of insulated spots, which extend in a line parallel to the course of the Nile, separated from one another by considerable intervals of sandy waste, and stretching not less than a hundred miles in latitude. M. Poncet, who examined it in 1698, says that it contains many gardens watered with rivulets, and that its palmgroves exhibit a perpetual verdure. It is the first stage of the Darfûr caravan, which assembles at Siout, being about four days' journey from that town, and nearly the same distance from Farshout. The exertions of Browne, Caillaud, Edmonstone, and Henniker have supplied to the European reader the most ample details relative to this interesting locality, which, there can be no doubt, must have been the scene of civilized life, and perhaps of political institutions, at a very remote era.

An interesting account of the architectural ruins of the Great Oasis is to be found in the pages of Sir A. Edmonstone, who tells, that about a mile and a half towards the north of El Kargeh, he observed on an eminence a building which proved to be a small quadrangular temple 31 feet long by 21 broad, of which three sides are still remaining. The walls on the inside are covered with figures and hieroglyphics, greatly defaced, but of distinguished elegance. There was the usual enclosure of unburnt brick,- -a defence necessary in a country so much

exposed to hostile incursions as this has always been. From hence he discovered a larger temple at a short dis tance to the north-west, and on a high ground still farther in the same direction several buildings like the ruins of an Arab town. On approaching the temple he was struck with the beauty of the situation, in the midst of a rich wood, consisting of palm, acacia, and other trees, with a stream of water in front.

In point of magnitude it far exceeded any thing he had hitherto seen. The entry is through a dromos, of which the enclosures are so broken that it is difficult to discern the shape. He could distinguish, however, that it had been formed by a parapet wall surmounted with a cornice, connecting ten columns, with spaces on each side to admit an easy approach. The temple stands east and west, and a rich cornice runs all round the top. The front is completely covered with colossal figures and hieroglyphics, which, as they extend but half-way to the north and south sides, give the whole exterior rather an unfinished appearance. The great doorway is much ornamented, and leads to a magnificent apartment, 60 feet by 54, with twelve columns, 13 feet in circumference. The second chamber, 54 feet by 18, is divided from the first by a sort of screen, formed by a wall lower than that of the temple, intersected by four columns, which, together with four others in the centre of the apartment, now fallen, are of the same size with those above mentioned. The chamber is traced all over with figures and hieroglyphics on stucco, retaining marks of paint, particularly blue and red; whereas, the first is quite plain, except on the west side. The third apartment 31 feet by 29, is ornamented likewise, and contains eight columns, but of much smaller dimensions than the others. Last comes the adytum, or shrine, 20 feet by 8, richly carved, though blackened with smoke. On each side are two compartments detached, but so choked up that it was impossible to ascertain their shape. The roof of the rest of the building is fallen in, except some slabs occasionally supported by pillars; but that of the adytum, which is lower, is entire. One of the stones used for covering this latter apartment is 35 feet by 19 feet 4 inches, and 2 feet 3 inches thick.

To the east of the temple are three detached doorways, at different intervals, and of different proportions. As they

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do not resemble the propyla which are usual in other parts of Egypt, Sir Archibald is of opinion that this edifice was originally surrounded with a triple wall, in the manner described by Diodorus as applicable to the fane of Jupiter Ammon. The first is a solid building, with figures all round it; among others, on the inside, is a colossal representation of Osiris at a banquet. The same is again found on the west front. On the roof are four spread eagles or vultures, painted red and blue. The second doorway, which is at some distance in the same direction, but not in the same line, is considerably higher than even the temple itself. Only one-half is standing, having a few figures inside carved in relief, and some remains of brickwork strongly piled on the top. As it is too high for any purposes of defence, a conjecture has been advanced, that it may have been the residence of one of the Stelite hermits, of whose superstitious practices many traces still remain. The last of the three propyla is low and imperfect; but it is remarkable for an inscription in Greek letters, with which the east end is completely covered, containing a rescript, published in the second year of the emperor Galba, relating to a reform in the administration of Egypt.

In regard to what appeared at first as the ruins of an Arab town, we are informed, that, upon a closer examination, it proved to be a necropolis or cemetery, consisting of a great variety of buildings, not fewer than two or three hundred, each the receptacle of a number of mummies. The greater part are square, and surmounted with a dome similar to the small mosques erected over the tombs of sheiks; having generally a corridor running round, which produces an ornamental effect very striking at a distance, and gives them a nearer resemblance to Roman than to any existing specimen of Greek or Egyptian architecture. Some few are larger than the rest. One, in particular, is divided into aisles like our churches; and that it has been used as such by the early Christians is clearly evinced by the traces of saints painted on the walls. In all there is a Greek cross, and the celebrated Egyptian hieroglyphic, the crux ansata, or cross with a handle, which, originally signifying life, would appear to have been adopted as a Christian emblem, either from its similarity to the shape of the cross, or from its being considered the symbol of a future existence.