THE RUINS OF SOBA. 41 7 
dinner on deck. Ajim carpets were laid out, candles 
were lit, and we sat round six brass saucers full of 
pastry, cutlets, and stews, which were eaten with the 
fingers. The usual coffee, liqueurs, and tobacco fol- 
lowed, and we rested for the night under variegated 
rezzais or counterpanes on the top of the cupboards. 
Next morning on the shore there was a curious collec- 
tion of riding animals brought to convey us to the 
ruins of Soba. None looked inviting, but we were 
allotted a horse each, while others rode camels and 
donkeys. The moullim, a sedate fat little man with 
black turban, had by no means a dignified appearance 
sitting on the donkey without a bridle, and the animal 
soon dropt down on his knees, allowing the functionary 
to slide over his head. The first mound we examined 
had been a room ten feet square, floored with square 
bricks; at each corner stood a round pillar of granite, 
seven feet between the capital and square base. The 
capitals were of three different designs ; the most con- 
spicuous being marked with the cross between acanthus 
leaves. All were now in ruin : the pillars were sunk, 
and the capitals lay separate. This excavation had 
been open for some time. The next we visited was 
opened by Dr Dumichen, a Prussian gentleman, whom 
we met upon the ground, and who kindly gave us an 
alphabet of characters. It was a small square building 
of stone, with two-feet thick walls very neatly built, 
having two opposite doors, and its floor four feet below 
the present level of the country. The next and last 
excavation was a scaly sphinx lying upon a plinth, 
which, though considerably broken, was written over 
in Coptic characters, which consist of figures of men, 
beasts, and birds. The head of the sphinx, and some 
2 D 
