Travels and Adventures of the Brothers Bacheville. 313 



l!ie population is numc rous, the water- 

 wlieels colli in le their rumbling noise 

 tlirougli the \vl)ole night, and the num- 

 ber of crocodiles is less. 



1824.] 



They understood how to give a charm 

 to the melancholy heaviness of Egyp- 

 tian architeclure, whose principal beauty 

 consists in solidity and size. The 

 soutl'crn wall of this temple is fallen 

 down, which imparts to it a picturesque 

 appearance, especially in the dreary 

 waste in which it is situated, and where 

 all vegetation is confined to a crooked 

 palm-tree. Near the bank of the river 

 are the rnins of another edifice. Pro- 

 bably this was the scilc of ancient 

 Uiera.li/caminos, or Si/caminos. A litlle 

 farther is the small village of Bishbe. 



In Wadi-Medin, and Sehua, and a 

 little farther, the batiks assume a differ- 

 ent appearance. On the east, the hills 

 of black sand-stone rise close from the 

 shore in pyramidical shapes; whilst, to 

 the west, the rocks are flat, and covered 

 with yellow sand almost to the edge of 

 the river. The vegetation is confined to 

 a narrow green stripe of land, from two 

 to three paces wide, on both sides of 

 .the river, and consists of a few libur- 

 num-trees, and shrubs of wolf's-bane 

 habitations (here are none. Sebua C(jn- 

 tains the ruins of a temple, which is 

 rather majestic than beautiful. Two 

 rows of sphynxes, before whom are two 

 statues of priests, of nearly the usual 

 size, lead to spacious moles, to which 

 the large doors were fixed leading to the 

 interior of the fabric. Two statues, 

 twelve feet high, which stood near the 

 gate, are overthrown. The wall is orna- 

 jnented by a row of pilasters, against 

 which colossal statues are leaning. 

 -The temple is almost entirely choked 

 up with sand; and, in taking the plan 

 of it, I could only measure the outside 

 .of which, tracing the remainder by the 

 rules of symmetry, which, however, 

 was not strictly observcil by the Egyp- 

 tians. Ne\t begins fF«c?i-e/-yl>-ai. The 

 banks cliaiige again : to the west the 

 bills become more elevated, whilst, in 

 the east, the rocky shore becomes 

 nearly flat; but at a little distance low 

 bills may be seen, covered by the sand 

 of the desert ; which, by the prevailing 

 north-west wind, is driven on the oppo- 

 site chain. This sand, fljing over the 

 low hills, falls against the steep eastern 

 shore, where it lornis a fine contrast 

 with the dark hills behind. A little 

 farther the country becomes more 

 •jjleasant ; the steep western bank is 

 l»ordered by ti row of liburimm-trccs; 

 the eastern bank bears some small 

 pabn-trccs, and litre and there one sees 

 Miiall huts foMiied (if plaited reed.s (»r of 

 mud. 'Jheie h auiiualion on all sides; 



For the Monthly Magazine. 



TR.VVELS of the BROTHEKS BACHEVILLE 



in various COUNTRIES, before and 



after the UNHAPPY RESTORATION of 

 the BOURBONS. 



SAM now drawing near the epoch of 

 my proscription. I shall say nothing 

 of the abdication of Napoleon, or the 

 possibility of dislodging the foreign 

 troops from Paris; but something re- 

 mains to be said of that terrible array 

 wbicli allowed itself to be disbanded 

 without resistance, exhibiting an exam- 

 ple of submission to the laws of the 

 country. 



This army, which had retired on the 

 other side of the Loire, was nearly 

 90,000 strong, men of all arms. A great 

 number of the moveable National 

 Guards were as yet under arms; we 

 were capable of making a stout resis- 

 tance on our own ground for sometime; 

 at the end of which, throwing our mate- 

 riel into the mountains of Auvergno 

 and the Cevennes, we might have acted 

 on the offensive. The presence of fo- 

 reigners would not fail to exasperate the 

 most timid. We were not ignorant of 

 all this, and often regretted that authen- 

 tic information, respecting matters of 

 i-Aci so important, was not communi- 

 cated to those in power ; or otherwise, 

 that, whatever might be their senti- 

 ments, they were disposed to remain in 

 ignorant apathy. We submitted, as 

 public-spirited men disposed to resign 

 our advantages, — not to involve the 

 country in an opposition, disapproved 

 of by the recognised authority. It was 

 disarming and putting ourselves at the 

 discretion of our enemies,— sacrificing 

 our own opinions, and a legitimate de- 

 siie of vengeance. The sacrifice was 

 great, but it was demanded of us in the 

 namcof duty, and we ottered it without 

 hesitation. 



The separation of these old warriors 

 was properly a political work, but actual 

 observation only could present a just 

 idea of the bitter tears flowing from 

 those by whom we may well think and 

 know it could not be relished. The 

 disbanding would have been no easy 

 task, — foreigners then being masters of 

 Prance ; but the honourable toils of oiu* 

 illustrious band were terminalcd by the 

 mild elunueuue of saying, "This point 

 gained^ 



