BAHBEIT. 
437 
so many fanciful conjectures. These are of inferior execution to the 
first, and instead of being raised, are sunk into the granite, and have 
only a little relief, but not so much as to bring the figure to the level 
of the surface in which they are cut. 
The third kind has certainly been employed for the body of the 
temple itself, the roof is also composed of it, and is covered with the 
five pointed stars. The pillars, of which we could only discover the 
remains of three, are likewise of the same material : the capitals are 
formed of four gigantic heads of Isis, and the shafts are covered 
with hieroglyphics. The blocks of this granite, except those in- 
tended for the roof, are smaller than the others, and are only 
ornamented with hieroglyphics cut into them without any relief. 
Several of these are very singular, but the goose with the globe, 
and the serpent with the cap on his head, are the most fre- 
quent. At one extremity of the ruin is a great lion of the same 
granite, but so buried in the earth that we could not judge of its 
execution. 
Pococke visited these splendid ruins, and speaks of them with a 
just degree of admiration. Savary, as usual, runs into a strain of 
panegyric, which is absurd. The features in the basso relievos are 
certainly beautiful, but the figures are out of all proportion, and 
display a total ignorance of anatomy. Since their times the devas- 
tations of the natives have continued, and many a valuable 
record of the ancient splendor of the Delta has been destroyed to 
form a millstone, or the sill of a door. The French also removed a 
few, but there are still remaining a sufficient quantity to gratify the 
curiosity of a traveller. I hope and trust that the day will arrive, 
when some of the most perfect will be conveyed to a country 
