June i6, 1904] 



NA TURE 



155 



advancing during the summer a distance of nine miles, 

 which brought them within five miles of the open 

 water and freedom ! It was, indeed, tantalising to 

 know that such a short but impenetrable barrier inter- 

 vened between them and the open sea. It will be 

 remembered that it was exactly this distance of land 

 ice that prevented our own ship, the Discovery, from 

 being liberated after her first winter in the Antarctic 

 regions. 



in spite of their disappointment, fhe brave 

 Norwegians did not in any way relax their efforts to 

 carry out the important work entrusted to them, 

 and much valuable information in various branches pf 

 science was obtained during their long sojourn in 

 Goose Fjord, one of the sledging expeditions having 

 attained the high latitude of 80° 30', almost succeed- 

 inc in reaching and joining hands with Aldrich's 

 furthest in lat. 82° 16' and long. 85° 30' W. on the 

 north coast of Grinnell Land. 



It was August, 1902, before the little Frani was re- 

 leased from her imprisonment, reaching Norway the 

 following month, where the gallant explorers received 

 after their long absence that hearty welcome, not only I 

 from their own countrymen, but from the civilised 

 world at large, which they so richly deserved. 



On the whole the expedition achieved a great success. 

 It added very materiallv to our geographical know- 

 ledge of the .\rctic regions, especially in the neighbour- 

 hood of the Parry Archipelago. Captain Sverdrup 

 cleared up satisfactorily the debatable question as to 

 whether Hayes Sound had an outlet to the west, or 

 whether it was, as many thought, only a large bay. 

 The western limits of Ellesmere Land, Grinnell Land, 

 and Grant Land were determined, a matter of some 

 geographical importance, as illustrating the archi- 

 pelagic character of the land on the western side of 

 Smith Sound and Robeson Channel. 



The scientific work accomplished by the expedition 

 is contained in four appendices at the end of the second 

 volume. -Appendix i. relates to the geological investi- 

 gations made during the voyage, and is of great 

 interest. .Appendix ii. is a summarv of the botanical 

 work of the expedition and its results. Appendix iii. 

 refers to the fauna of the different localities visited by 

 the explorers. The scarcity, it might almost be said 

 the extinction, of the reindeer is ascribed to wolves; 

 these voracious animals are the great enemies of all 

 Arctic quadrupeds, except, perhaps, the polar bear 

 and the musk ox. Four species of butterflies were 

 found, as well as some moths and a few wasps. 



Appendix iv. refers to the meteorological observ- 

 ations regularly taken during the whole four years. 



Much literary skill is exhibited by the author 

 in the compilation of this work. It is written in a 

 popular manner, and imparts valuable information in 

 an interesting and pleasing way. 



It is a book that will certainly take its place among 

 other standard works on the Arctic regions. 



An excellent map of the regions explored will be 

 found in a pocket at the end of the second volume. 



AN IMPORTANT ARCHMOLOGICAL 

 DISCOVERY IN EGYPT. 



THE most important archseological event reported 

 from Egypt during the last excavation season 

 (1903-4) is the discovery by Prof. Naville, of the Uni- 

 versity of Geneva, and Mr. H. R. Hall, of the British 

 Museum, of the most ancient temple at Thebes. The 

 excavations were carried on by Messrs. Naville and Hall 

 on behalf of the Egypt Exploration Fund, which is to 

 be congratulated on having made this important dis- 

 covery. The services which have been rendered by the 

 Egypt Exploration Fund to Egyptological science since 



NO. 1807, VOL. 70] 



its foundation, some twenty years ago, have indeed 

 been innumerable. 



One of the most important works carried out 

 by the fund was Prof. Naville 's complete excava- 

 tion of the great temple of Deir el-Bahari, in 

 the western hills of Thebes. The excavation 

 came to an end in 1899, after the main temple had been 

 entirely cleared and the necessary works of conserv- 

 ation and restoration had been carried out, but before 

 theenvirons of the temple had been completely explored. 

 To the south of the temple lay a wilderness of rubbish 

 heaps, which might conceal a necropolis or even another 

 temple, placed between the great shrine built by Queen 

 Hatshepsut and the southern horn of the cirque of cliffs 

 which rise behind and around Deir el-Bahari. Means 

 for further excavation failed, however, and the explor- 

 ation of the unexcavated tract to the south of the temple 

 was postponed until the present season, when Prof. 

 Naville again took up the spade and very soon dis- 

 covered that underneath the heaps of rubbish (Fig. i) 

 lay the not inconsiderable remains of a smaller temple, 

 of high archceological importance on account of its age. 



work on the Mounds. 



It is the funerary temple or mortuary chapel of the most 

 distinguished monarch of the eleventh dynasty, 

 Nebkhcrura Mentuhetep, who reigned about 2,500 B.C., 

 according to the best authorities. A temple of this date 

 is a great rarity in Egypt. Remains of even older ones 

 (of the same funerary character) have been found by the 

 German excavators, Messrs. Borchardt and ^chafer, at 

 Abusir, near Cairo; these belong to the fifth dynasty 

 and' are at least five hundred years older than Prof. 

 Naville 's new temple; they are the most ancient temple 

 remains in Egypt. The new temple, however, comes 

 next to them in age, and if it is surpassed by them in 

 peculiarities of architecture, it appears to fully equal 

 them in general architectural interest and to surpass 

 them in the point of artistic interest and importance, 

 since it has added considerably to our knowledge of the 

 history of Egyptian art. 



The artistic triumphs of the Old Empire are well 

 known ; but our knowledge of the condition of art at 

 the beginning of the Middle Empire under the eleventh 

 dynasty was, until the present discovery, scanty. The 

 general impression has been that the work of the 



