4H TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



heavens made for a feries of ages'. And a Theban Herfcbcl* 

 would have given us the hiftory of planets he then obferved, 

 which, after appearing for ages, are now vifible no more, 

 or have taken a different form. 



The dial, or gold circle of Ofimandyas, mews what an 

 Immenfe progreis they had made in aftronomy in fo little 

 time. This, too, is a proof of an early fall and revival of 

 the arts in Egypt, for the knowledge and ufe of Armilla; 

 had been loft with the deftruction of Thebes, and were not 

 again discovered, that is, revived, till the reign of Ptolemy 

 Soter, 300 years before the Chriftian xra. I confider that 

 immenfe quantity of hieroglyphics, with which the walls 

 of the temples, and faces of the obelifks, are covered, as 

 containing fo many aitronomical obfervations. 



I look upon thefe as the ephemerides of fome thoufand 

 years, and that fufficiently accounts for their number. Their 

 date and accuracy were indifputable; they were exhibited in 

 the mofl public places, to be confulted as occafion required; 

 and, by the deepnefs of the engraving, and hardnefs of the 

 materials, and the thicknefs and folidity of the block itfelf 

 upon which they were carved, they bade defiance at once 

 to violence and time. 



I know that moll of the learned writers are of fentiments 



very different from mine in thefe refpects. They look for 



4 myfteries 



* An aflronoraei' greatly above my praife. 



