394 Egyptian Antiquities. 



ing in the time of the Priory at Tynemouth ; probably as early 

 as the year 800, and so to the dissolution in 1539; and accord- 

 ing to Brand, and other records belonging to the Duke of North- 

 umberland, the Pow Pans were making salt in the reign of Eliza- 

 beth; and in 1634, the Corporation of the Trinity-House, New- 

 castle, bought land near Tolland's, Delaval's and Selby's Pans, to 

 erect their Low Lights upon. Much of the oak moulders away 

 on being exposed to the open air : but some beams and planks 

 are preserved, out of which it is intended to make chairs, &c. 

 The Danes often moored fleets in the Tyne, during their excur- 

 sions, in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh centuries. — {Durham 

 Advertiser.) 



EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Tlie following is an extract from a private letter from a gentle- 

 man of talent and acquirement, who is at present engaged in 

 visiting the monuments and curiosities of Egypt. 



" Cairo, March 4, 1819. 



*' Our Italian expedition has terminated in the most favourable 

 manner. We arrived here yesterday from the Upper Cataracts, 

 after an absence of four months, without having experienced on 

 our way any kind of difficulty whatever. I found Egypt equal to 

 its fame, and far surpassing in the importance of its architectural 

 and sculptural remains, in connection with the history of the two 

 Arts, any opinion I had collected from previous travellers. Volney 

 says judiciously — ' Nos jugemens sont bien moins fondes sur les 

 qualites reelles des objets, que sur les affections que nous rece- 

 vons, ou que nous portons deja en les voyant ;' but this tacit 

 censure of all descriptions can scarcely apply to one of this coun- 

 try, where the strongest tests of its greatness are the strong emo- 

 tions produced by its ruins. Our whole journey, to me at least, 

 was a series of successive pleasure ; and I am at a loss to say 

 whether I was the more astonished by the grandeur or numbers 

 of its monuments. 



'' We left Cairo in November, and proceeded very rapidly up 

 the river to Dendera. The Temple is one of great magnitude, 

 and is, perhaps, in a more ))erfect state than any other monument 

 in Egypt. We remained here four entire days, occupied from 

 morning till evening with the measurements and other details of 

 the architecture and sculpture. The northerly winds prevailing at 

 this time of the year, and not being willing to lose anv opportunity 

 which they offered us, we did not delay at ThebeS', but passed it 

 rapidly a few days after our departure from Kerouch, almost im- 

 mediately opposite Dendera. The first view of this extraordinary 

 city, now sjjlit into five distinct villages, is equal to the warmest 

 panegyrics of Denon, and no praise too large can be given to the 

 greatness and sublimity of the combinations, architectural and 



natural, 



