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Travideani's Letters to Canova from Africa. [March 1, 



looking-glass of the sun. and the island 

 Elephantine (or Elephantine Island,) 

 the abode of Emefet, I joined the illus- 

 trious party of my Lord Behnore, intent 

 upon visiting Nubia ; and, Iiavinu passed 

 the la-t cataract, improperly called the 

 first, the caves of granite, and the sump- 

 tuous edifices of Philoe SiC. reached 

 Sieg Ibsnmbal the ancient Aboeeis, 

 abandoned to Petronius by the unfor- 

 tunate Caiuiace, andvheK! is still the 

 best monument of Et'iiopia, re-opened 

 by order of the aforesaid Mr. Silt, by 

 our Belzoni, and by us another time 

 when the Nisis had covered it with 

 sand. The name of Mr. Salt is dear 

 to (he republic of the literati, and to 

 amateurs of travels, by calling to their 

 remembrance the interesting accounts 

 of Abyssinia. 



Fi-oin Ibsambal passing over to Is- 

 chiet, we met Dand iCas(r))ef, one of tiie 

 seventy children of Hassan, who re- 

 ceived us wifli an agreeable jioliteness, 

 under a canopy of palms in a fii^ld. Oh, 

 if you had seen how different from our 

 own are the customs of the people of 

 Nubia! 



Here Captain Correy, brollier of Loid 

 Belmore, and uiyself, Mere seized with 

 tlie desire of passing i\\^ penultimate 

 cataract, in order to arrive by the way 

 of Sennaar at the pleiisant island of 

 MeroS, wliicli is the Saba conquered by 

 Moses before the high mission, when, 

 underthenameof Soutifanti he enjoyed 

 high credit at the court of Phai-aoh. 



We were immeised in the new pro- 

 ject, when some people of the provinces 

 subject to the Grand Negus told us, that 

 the Mamelukes confined in Dougola by 

 the brave Mahomet Ali. notably sus- 

 pected all tlioscM-lio came from Egypt ; 

 wherefore we retroceded, and on tlie 

 26th December, 1817, 1 cut in the name 

 oi lUtts and my own, upon the highest 

 top of the cataracts of Nubia. 



Tiiat river which fertilizes so many 

 kingdoms and makes t'lem iVuitful, is 

 here divided into millions of various 

 streams, which, gushing out from 

 amongst the stones, and folding into 

 heaps of flowers, form to the eye a spec- 

 tacle not elsewhere known in nature. 



Having found under (he torrid 

 zone (lie sites of the ancient Phtliuris, 

 Assciga, V'icroseia, Corthes, Pselchas, 

 Thutzis, Talmis, Tapliis, and Thitzi, 

 and having returned to Syene, I soon 

 directed mv steps tow oris Ombos Sacra, 

 to Crocoilile, to Stilithia, Anubis, to 

 Koptos, the friend of the maritime 

 Berenice, and which experienced ail 



the rigour of Diocletian, to Diospolis 

 minor, Abydos major, which preserves 

 considerable remains of the tem- 

 ple of Osiris, to Panopolis, Antinoopo- 

 lis, Hermopolis Magna, Tanis Superior, 

 and to Osirineus in Siut, where I met 

 with the French traveller, Count 

 Forbin. 



Spending some time in Radamore, 

 where is the distillery of rum, and a 

 sugar bakery, under the direction of the 

 liospitable Mr. Brine, I went down to 

 the pyramids of Saccara, and, by the 

 plain of Memphis, to those of Ghizeh, 

 where I foun(l M. Belzoni anxious to 

 penetrate into the second of those heaps, 

 thought to be of Cephrenus. Knowing 

 his intelligence, I endeavoured only to 

 animate him still more to the under- 

 taking, and after a stay of some days, 

 we traversed a pla».'e inaccessible for 

 many generations; and, I know not 

 how to express my feelings at wander- 

 ing amongst those cavities. 



A very long inclined gallery entirely 

 of fine and massy granite ; a passage at 

 the end so narrow, that a man bending 

 horizontally c.ui hardly enter: then a 

 horizontal gallery which looks into the 

 hall where is the tond) worn away; a 

 perpendicular gallery somewhat in- 

 clined with a room on the left side of 

 the passage; various collections of sa- 

 line productions figured upon the walls ; 

 various inscriptions; and, finally, crosses 

 drawn upon these same walls : this is 

 what we saw. 



Emerging from this delirium to the 

 light, 1 wisjied to ascend the highest 

 pyramid, andarrix'ed at the top; I ap- 

 peared to toncii the stars : I remained 

 there the whole uigb.t, which was the 

 best of my life. Forty centuries had 

 been silent under my feet, whilst I was 

 ponderating the cause and effects of 

 the creation. 



The following morning the rising swn 

 illumined me, which shone around the 

 horizon with a pomp never dreamt of, 

 either by painter or by poet. 



From this place I wrote to you, to 

 Dionigi, Morghen, Bartolomei, Pinde- 

 monte, Morichini, Ferroni, Vacea, Scar- 

 pellini, Camellieri, Delfico, to the Car- 

 dinal Gonsalvi.to the Chevalier Fossom- 

 broui, and to other lights and souls of 

 my country. 



I have scarcely mentioned to you the 

 celebrated woman of Mizraim ; she has 

 been a prey to all the scourges of tiihe, 

 so that we can only write upon her 

 remains, '• Here was Memphis!" 



Turning from the pyramids I entered 



