THE SOURCE OF THE NILE. 139 



the fhadow, is to this day fo horizontal, that it might ftill 

 be ufed in obfervation. The top of the obelifk is femicircu- 

 lar, an experiment, I fuppofe, made at the inflance of the 

 obferver, by varying the fhape of the point of the obelifk, 

 to get rid of the penumbra. 



At Carnac we faw the remains of two vaft rows of 

 fphinxes, one on the right-hand, the other on the left, (their 

 heads were moftly broken) and, a little lower, a number of 

 termini as it Ihould feem. They were compofed of bafaltes, 

 with a dog or lion's head, of Egyptian fculpture. They 

 Hood in lines like wife, as if to conduct or ferve as an avenue 

 to fome principal building. 



They had been covered with earth, till very lately a * Ve- 

 netian phyfician and antiquary bought one of them at a 

 very confiderable price, as he faid, for the king of Sardinia. 

 This has caufed feveral others to be uncovered, though no 

 purchafer hath yet offered 



Upon the outiide of the walls at Carnac and Luxor there 

 feems to be an hiftorical engraving inftead of hieroglyphics ; 

 this we had not met with before. It is a reprefentation of 

 men, horfes, chariots, and battles ; fome of the attitudes are 

 freely and well drawn, they are rudely fcratched upon the 

 furface of the ft one, as fome of the hieroglyphics at Thebes 

 are. The weapons the men make ufe of are ihort javelins, 

 fuch as are common at this day among the inhabitants of 



S 2 Egypt* 



* Signior Donati. 



