4 i5 TRAVELS TO DISCOVER 



obfervations as we every day fee in an almanack, in which 

 we cannot fuppofe, that forfaking the obvious import, where 

 the good they did was evident, they mould afcribe dif- 

 ferent meanings to the hieroglyphic, to which no key has 

 been left, and therefore their future inutility mull have 

 been forefeen. 



I shall content myfelf in this wide field, to fix upon one 

 famous hieroglyphical perfonage, which is 'Tot, the fecretary 

 of Ofiris, whole function I fhall endeavour to explain ; if I 

 fail, I am in good' company ; I give it only as my opinion, 

 and fubmit it chearfully to the correction of others. The 

 word Tot is Ethiopic, and there can be little doubt it means 

 the dog-ftar. It was the name given to the firft month of 

 the Egyptian year. The meaning of the name, in the lan- 

 guage of the province of Sire, is an idol, compofed of differ- 

 ent heterogeneous pieces ; it is found having this fignifica- 

 tion in many of their books. Thus a naked man is not 

 a Tot, but the body of a naked man, with a dog's head, 

 an afs's head, or a fcrpent inftcad of a head, is a Tot. 

 According to the import of that word, it is, I fuppofe, 

 an almanack, or fection of the phenomena in the heavens 

 which are to happen in the limited time it is made to com- 

 prehend,whenexpofcdfor the information of thepublic ; and 

 the more extenfive its ufe is intended to be, the greater num- 

 ber of emblems, or figns of obfervation, it is charged with. 



Besides many other emblems or figures, the common 

 Tot, I think, has in his hand a crofs with a handle, as it is 

 called Crux Anfata, which has occasioned great fpeculation 

 among the decypherers. This crofs, fixed to a circle, is fup- 

 pofecl.to denote the Jour, elements, and to be the fymbol of the 



2 influence 



