No. 144.] 91 



can be readily separated from the animal remains and the cloth, 

 by solution and distillation; while the varieties of bitumens, em- 

 ployed in the inferior mummies, could be made equally service- 

 able for varnishes, illuminating and machinery oils At the same 

 time the animal remains can be manufactured into soap (they are 

 too dry for glue or gelatine) ; the alkali or soda necessary for the 

 purpose, existing in abundance in the Natron lakes, (the nitre of 

 Herodotus) through Lower Egypt, and the bones are convertible 

 into animal charcoal or guano; and it must not be overlooked, 

 that the bijouterie relics and antiquarian curiosities, including 

 the winged orb, a mythological emblem of silver, about the size 

 of a half dollar, which is invariably placed over the embalming 

 incision in the flank of each mummy, would have some nominal, 

 if not intrinsic value, amongst collectors, and their sale would 

 tend much to indemnify any disbursement, that it would be found 

 necessary to apply towards further excavations. 



It is presumed there would be little difficulty in obtaining the 

 sanction and co-operation of Said Pascha, the present vice roy, 

 who is far more liberal minded and speculative than the late 

 bigoted and sensual Abbas, or his predecessor Ibrahim Pasha. 

 The railroad across the desert through tlie Eed Sea must be 

 assisted by the resources of the country, and the projected canal 

 in a similar direction, has already received the warmest political, 

 though not financial support. Moreover it may be predicted as 

 a certainty, that England, anxious to preserve from future con- 

 tingencies her high road to India through Egypt, will have this 

 country, now under the rule of the sultan, ceded to her as the 

 remuneration of interference in the present war and the cost of 

 capturing Sebastopol, and retain it as a British province; and its 

 first step will be to develope the natural and artificial resources 

 of the country, so eminently fitted for enterprise. 



The remnants of mummies alone in the vicinity of the pits on 

 both sides of the Nile would begin to pay already without much 

 searching for whole subjects, and indeed so numerous are they in 

 some localities out of the usual beaten tracks of most travellers, 

 that after the periodical storms whole acres may be seen stripped 

 of the sand, and leaving fragments and limbs exposed in such 



