216 



information, that the inhabitants of the Nile valley really 

 did enjoy a very remarkable longevity. Morton, in his 

 " Crania Egyptiaca,^^ remarks, that amongst one hundred 

 skulls, taken at random, he calculated that there were two 

 of from sixty to seventy years, three of from seventy to 

 eighty years, and two of from eighty to uiuety years old ; 

 a proportion far greater than is to be met with amongst 

 European nations, where scarcely two persons aged ninety 

 years, are found amongst one thousand. It has also been 

 inferred, from observations made in the tombs, and from 

 the comparative scarcity of mummies of children, that 

 owing to the care bestowed on infants, and the genial 

 influence of the climate, the mortality amongst them was 

 very slight. The mortality amongst children in Egypt 

 is now, however, exceedingly great, nor does it remarkably 

 diminish until after puberty. This does not arise 

 principally from epidemics, such as smallpox, (which do, 

 however, sw^eep ofi" vast numbers,) but mainly from filth, 

 neglect, and mismanagement. 



The sight of the children is one well calculated to 

 excite pity and sorrow. Their heads are scurfy and 

 covered with dirt, their bellies are large and swollen, 

 their limbs are ricketty and emaciated. They are more 

 than half naked, whilst their eyes, secreting a thick 

 muco-purulent matter, are, as well as their mouths, 

 constantly covered with flies, which they have not the 

 power, nor their wretched mothers the disposition, to 

 drive away. Their countenances, instead of the pleasing 

 rotundity and cheerful freshness of childhood, exhibit 

 only the expresive marks of pain and disease, and are 

 sharp, sunk, and unsightly. 



The women themselves are not generally much better 

 favoured than their youthful offspring. I am now speak- 

 ing, not of the Nubian women, who, when young, are 

 remarkably well formed, graceful, and for the most part, 



