178 EEV. J. N. FEADENBURGH, PH.D., D.D., LL.D., 



head ; the goose was then laid in the western corner of the 

 liall, and the head in the eastern corner, and Dada — for that 

 was the magician's name — repeated his magic formulas. 

 Then the goose stood up and tripped along, and the head did 

 likewise. When now one part had come to the other, the 

 goose stood there and cackled." And so the story goes, 

 ending with the prophecy of the birth of three children who 

 should inaugurate a new dynasty in Egypt — which was 

 afterwards so. 



The land of Punt signifies the coast lauds of the Red 

 Sea, Southern Arabia and the opposite Somali coast. This 

 country was considered by the Egyptians as a semi-fairyland. 

 There are accounts of voyages to this divine land, with 

 relations of much which is marvellous. One traveller — he 

 seems to have been a treasurer belonging to the royal court 

 of Egypt — set out for the gold mines of Pharaoh in a strong 

 ship manned by one hundred and fifty sailors, who " knew 

 both the sky and the earth, and in Avhom the heart was 

 wiser than that of a lion." A mighty storm dashed the ship 

 in pieces and all perished save the traveller, who escaped to 

 land on a piece of wood, at the end of three clays spent in 

 the deep. He found abundance of food and after satisfying 

 his hunger, sacrificed to the gods. He then says in his 

 nan-ative : " Suddenly I heard a noise of thunder, which 

 I thought to be the roar of a wave ; the trees trembled and 

 the earth shook. I raised my face and saw that it was a 

 snake approaching ; he was thirty cubits in length, and his 

 beard was more than two cubits long. His limbs were 

 inlaid with gold, and his colour was like real lapis-lazuli. He 

 rolled forward and opened his mouth. T threw myself down 

 before him, and he spake : ' Who has brought thee hither ? 

 Who has brought thee hither, little one ? AVho hast brought 

 thee hither? If thou dost not tell me immediately who has 

 brought thee hither, then I will show thee who thou art ! ' 

 Then he took me in his mouth, carried me to his lair, and 

 laid me down without doing me any harm." Being- 

 questioned again the traveller relates the story of his 

 voyage. The snake, judging that the gods must have 

 favoured his visitor, assures him that he shall suffer no harm, 

 and beguiles his weary hours with fascinating stories of the 

 snake island. Formerly there had been a beautiful maiden 

 Avhom misfortunes had cast upon the island, but she had 

 been killed by lightning. The inhabitants of the island now 

 consisted of seventy-five snakes, all of one family. Thus the 



