VOL. V. THE TANFORD LIBRAR FORTICO. Mille hominum species, et rerum discolor usus. PERS. SAT. v. JANUARY, FEBRUARY & MARCH, 1818. Nos. I. II. & III. REVIEW. With mean complacence ne'er betray your trust, Nor be so civil as to prove unjust. Fear not the anger of the wise to raise; Those best can bear reproof who merit praise. POPE. Narrative of a Journey in Egypt, and the Country beyond the Cataracts. By Thomas Legh, Esq. M. P. Philadelphia: M. Thomas, 1817. Octavo, p. p. 203. THIS Volume has, at least, one thing to recommend it—its brevity. If we gain but little information from its perusal, we cannot complain that it imposes a very severe tax upon our time. Authors, in general, are too apt to consider their readers as a species of intellectual dray-horses, upon whom they may lay the heaviest burdens, without offending against the laws and regulations of the Commonwealth of Letters. With regard to his journey "beyond the Cataracts," for aught that the reader profits by it, the author might as well have travelled beyond the moon. Instead of satisfying our curiosity, or settling any doubtful questions about the ruins and antiquities of the country, he takes the easier method of referring us to other travellers, who have preceded him. A book of travels should stand by itself: it is but little consolation to the reader, to be told, that what he has a right to expect here, may be found elsewhere: Mr. Legh and his fellow-traveller, a Mr. Smelt, embarked on board a Greek vessel, at Athens, in the month of July, 1812; and having visited the northern islands of the Egean Sea, they landed on the coast of Asia, "to examine the Troad." Whether they did examine it or not, is a question which the author does not endle us to answer. They returned to Athens, lingered a short time, reëmbarked on board the same vessel, "and in a few hours were landed on the eastern shore of the Isthmus of Corinth." Thence they sailed to Malta, where they found a vessel bound to Alexandria-leaving a description of Alexandria, as of every other place, to "Denon, Hamilton," and others, our travellers pursue their way to Rosetta. "The style of building in Rosetta, is somewhat peculiar—the houses are very high, and each story projects beyond the one below, so that the opposite buildings nearly meet at the top; but though the streets are, in consequence, rendered very gloomy, they are at the same time shaded from the scorching rays of the sun." Our travellers ascended the Nile from Rosetta to Cairo; and that they were in no danger of starving, may be inferred from the following extract: "Provisions are so extremely abundant and cheap in this part of the country, and in Upper Egypt they are still more so, that we frequently bought one thousand eggs for a dollar, and for the same sum could purchase fourteen fowls and innumerable pigeons; but the fertilily of the soil, which produces three crops in the year, clover, corn, and rice, offers a striking contrast to the miserable appearance of the inhabitants, who are excessively dirty, and in a state of almost perfect nudity. They are, however, at the same time remarkable for their great patience, the power of bearing fatigue, and the faculty they possess of living almost upon nothing. The horses of the Pacha, in his war with the Wahabees, were unfortunately not quite so well supplied with provisions, notwithstanding their abundance; for, says the author, they "were frequently reduced to the necessity of subsisting upon dried fish." The following account of the mummy pits, which the author examined at Manfalout, is almost the only thing of interest in the volume. "Our party consisted of my friend Mr. Smelt, and an American of the name of Barthow, who had traded many years in the Red Sea, spoke Arabic extremely well, and whom we had engaged as a dragoman at Cairo, when we first began our travels in Upper Egypt. We took with us, besides an Abyssinian merchant, of the name of Fadlallah, and three of our boat's crew, who were Barabras, whom we had brought with us from the Cataracts. Having provided ourselves with asses and torches, we crossed the ferry of Manfalout, at five on the morning of the 30th March. We wandered about till nine o'clock in search of the village of Amabdi, near which we at length found four Arabs employed in cutting wood. They appeared at first unwilling to give us any information about the object of our search, and we observed them consulting together, and overheard them muttering something about danger, and thought we heard the expression, "If one must die-all must die." This excited our suspicions; but did not deter us from proceeding, as we relied on our number and strength to resist any act of treachery. "We were bent on going, and the Arabs at last undertook to be our guides for a reward of twenty-five piastres. After an hour's march in the desert, we arrived at the spot, which we found to be a pit or circular hole of ten feet in diameter, and about eighteen feet deep. We descended without difficulty, and the Arabs began to strip, and proposed to us to do the same; we partly followed their example, but kept on our trowsers and shirts. I had by me a brace of pocket pistols, which I concealed in my trowsers, to be prepared against any treacherous attempt of our guides. It was now decided that three of the four Arabs should go with us, while the other remained on the outside of the cavern. The Abyssinian merchant declined going any farther. The sailors remained also on the outside to take care of our clothes. We formed therefore a party of six; each was to be preceded by a guide-our torches were lighted-one of the Arabs led the way-and I followed him. "We crept for seven or eight yards through an opening at the bottom of the pit, which was partly choked up with the drifted sand of the desert, and found ourselves in a large chamber about fifteen feet high. "This was probably the place into which the Greek, Demetrius, had penetrated, and here we observed what he had described, the fragments of the mummies of crocodiles. We saw also great numbers of bats, flying about, and hanging from the roof of the chamber. Whilst holding up my torch to examine the vault, I accidently scorched one of them. I mention this trivial circumstance because afterwards it gave occasion to a most ridiculous, though to us very important discussion So far the story of the Greek was true, and it remained only to explore the galleries where the Arabs had formerly taken refuge, and where, without doubt, were deposited the mummies we were searching for. We had all of us torches, and our guides insisted upon our placing ourselves in such a way, that an Arab was before each of us. Though there appeared something mysterious in this order of march, we did not dispute with them; but proceeded. We now entered a low gallery, in which we continued for more than an hour, stooping and creeping as was necessary, and following its windings, till at last it opened into a large chamber, which after some time, we recognized as the one we had first entered, and from which we had set out. Our conductors, however, denied that it was the same, but on our persisting in the assertion, agreed at last that it was, and confessed they had missed their way the first time, but if |