1824.] 
title of “‘ Garden of the Tropic.” M, 
Jomard describes the aspect of nature 
here, the freshness of the meadows and 
winding groves, as affording successive 
‘prospects more animated than in any 
other parts of Egypt. He contrasts 
the horrors of wild solitade, the depths 
and antiquity of sandy caverns, &e. 
the iminensity, severitics, aid influ- 
ence, of a torrid climate and lifeless 
‘creation, with the mew sensations 
Which the objects of Elephanta must 
forcibly impress even’ on an ordinary 
traveller. He enumerates the beauti- 
ful trees, profusely scattered over, and 
with which it is elegantly grouped and 
decorated, exhibits the brilliant colour- 
ing of its vigorous vegetation, as con- 
Stituting an appearance lor the eye to 
view, and the mind to admire, une- 
qualled, in rich and elevated variety. 
He extends his encomiums to the 
whole adjoining canton, as adapted to 
eXalt the conceptions of any man pos- 
sessed of the least sensibility. 
At Elephanta are several remains of 
monuments still erect, to attest its 
pristine magnificence. There was 
once an Egyptian city on the island, 
represented by Pomponius Mela as 
one of the most considerable in Hgypt. 
In the time of ficrodotus, the Per- 
Sians, as the Pharaohs bad done before, 
had a garrison there, to secure the 
frontiers against the Ethiopians. ‘The 
Romanis maintained one also, accord- 
ing to Strabo ; 2nd, so late as the times 
of the Lower Empire, we find a cohort 
stationed there. # 
The antiquitics most entire are two 
little temples, both on a similar plan 
of construction, and with the same 
proportions. The architecture is a 
model of purity and elegance; it bas 
some peculiarities to be found in no 
other Egyptian structure. There is 
no inclination of the walls and face, 
which are vertical ; and it is here only 
that the ceiling of the gallery rests im- 
mediately upon the cornice. 
In this little island there is also a 
philometric ladder, which may be 
traced to the times of the Ptolemices. 
Tt is probably the one of which Strabo 
makes mention. Leaving this agree- 
able spot,—where nature scems ‘re- 
vived, where every thing smiles,where 
the earth is adorned with trees and 
Shrabs, and these are decked with 
green blossoms, flowers, and fruits, the 
traveller will be mortified at the nar- 
Yow limits which the benefits here 
Painted exhibitto his view. cay 
Sketches of detached Parts of Egypt. 
‘107 
On the passage from Elephanta to 
Ombos, only a few indications of ver- 
dure appear on the right bank of the 
river; but at Ombos the whole coun- 
try is a desert. The intense heat 
seems to menace whateyer has life. 
In Sepfember, Reaumur’s thermo- 
meter rises to fifty-four degrees; thisis 
higher than at Syene, which lies more 
to the south. Respiration here is like 
breathing ina furnace. The French 
soldiers boiled eggs by laying them for 
a short time on the ground. A young 
negro, who had ventured his feet on the 
sands, was so scorched, that, being 
unable to walk, he was carried on his 
master’s shoulders. ’ 
The ruins of Ombos present an ap- 
pearance of unbounded desolation: 
‘scarcely any vestiges remain of the 
ancient Egyptian city. From its 
Situation, at the entrance of a valley 
which leads to the Desert, it has no 
shelter against the encroaching sands, 
from the natural rampart of the 
Arabic chain, ‘The Arab village that 
succeeded to the ancient Ombos was 
so endangered,. that the inhabitants 
have deserted it. In this’ remote 
quarter, it is rare to find any visible 
signs of a living creature. 
On the sands may yet be seen the 
remains of two Egyptian temples, 
surrounded with a vast brick wall. 
The largest has two porticoes, and in 
its breadth is divided into two equal 
parts. Of this double distribution, no 
similar example exists, either in this 
country or ‘in the whole range of an- 
cient architecture. These ruins bear 
also the marks of fire ; besides which, 
the Nile has invaded the flanks of the 
wall, and carried away a portion of the 
little temple. 
Ombos was not always so near the 
bank ; it was formerly inundated by a 
canal. But thé current, inclining 
eastward, so expanded the canal, that 
it now forms the principal channel 
of the river, and a large piece of 
land has been transformed into an 
island. ; 
In those times, on the rising of the 
Nile, crocodiles came up to the vici- 
nity. By the inhabitants this was 
deemed a presage and emblem of the 
inundation: their image was sculptured 
in the temples, and Osiris was figured 
with a crocodile’s head. At Den- 
derah this animal was held in abhor- 
rence, and hence the aversion subsist- 
ing between the inhabitants respec- 
tively. Juvenal alludes toits— —~ * 
Inter 
