Report oj a Journey Around the World. 



127 



had at last been cleaned of the crust of mudwasp nests that con- 

 cealed much of one side, and a railing around it shows that the 

 Government that has done so much for modern Egypt has taken 

 this most ancient of obelisks now remaining in situ under its pro- 

 tection and care. The neighborhood has not improved in appear- 

 ance, although the evidences of land speculation are not wanting, 

 and perhaps in another decade there will be a rising suburb here 

 as well as on the western side of Cairo. The Empress Eugenie 

 has built a nunnery near the well of the sun, and the famous syca- 



I04. COLOMBO MUSEUM. 



more of the virgin is now a wretched ruin, thanks to the raids of 

 tourists, and, although hardly two centuries old, seems near its end. 



Turning from the ancient life to the most modern thing, we 

 found, as we passed through the canal on the "Macedonia" on our 

 way to Colombo, the process of widening the waterway most interesl 

 ing. The last time journeying this way we were blocked for many 

 hours by a small steamer getting fast and hard across the canal. 



From the placid voyage inland we proceeded into a rather 

 rough sea in the Indian < )cean after we left Aden, so that it was no 

 easy thing to walk the decks as much as we needed for exercise ; we 

 two were the only passengers who did this each day. All were glad 

 when we came within the breakwater at Colombo on August ,}ist. 



In a rickshaw, of which the motive power was a Chinese, we 

 rode out of the town to the museum (Fig. 104) which has been 



tly enlarged and improved since my last visit. Here we saw 



[ 275 I 



