two great streams rises in the mountain of the moon, in abyssinia, and unites in nubia, and flows through egypt, and makes what we call “the nile.” this splendid old stream flows on gradually as in the days of pharaoh, and jupiter hammon; splendid, because in those days its banks were walled with rich cities. the remains of thebes stand like catskill mountains, unshocked. i mean the remains, the renowned memnonian, luxor and carnack. the tall columns of the memnonian is here like untold riddles to be explained. the paintings are as bright to-day as any modern picture i have seen in the louvre, at paris. the carved chariots on the walls convey the idea, “i see remesees and pharaoh’s on the battlefield.” these chariots seem to have carried only two or three warriors with their spears in the battle. on the outside wall of this temple is carved, the exact likeness of a “man’s individual part,” varying from 6 to 13 inches in length, and hanging beneath each is two balls, seeming to be connected like the two big parts of a heart, and both gradually sloping down together. it is supposed, that cutting off these parts of man was the punishment or qualification required to degrade those gents of the remesee court, who were too polite to the ladies. but why gallant gentlemen should be treated so i shall leave for the conjecture of the learned reader. some light may be thrown on this subject by reference to the preceeding page, on constantinople’s manner of preparing gentlemen’s nature for taking ladies to the baths.
these great temples are situated so that it takes a man many days to see them. they are on different sides of the nile. carnack is a tremendous mass of splendid ruins. owls and foxes dwell within; and i saw a pretty bird, half asleep, that a man told me was a whip-poor-will. it is no pleasant thing to stop in these ruins a few hours alone, unless a man was possessed of no imagination at all. on one of the splendid painted broken columns that ran up through the hall or court of the unapproachable pharaoh, ptolemy, or remese, a fox or hawk had been breakfasting on a rabbit, and martins had their nests perched on the side of the spreading columns that supported the beams of solid stone, of 12 feet wide and 20 long, over head. these ruins were sights of wonder to behold. thebes could send to war 20,000 men from each of her hundred gates, making in all two millions of men. but to-day her walls cannot be found; we know her but by carnack, and the rest of her temples, and the stadium of the nile.
england and america has a consul here. he is a colored man named mustapha. he insisted on us taking dinner with him before we left, and so we did. he had what is called a fashionable egyptian dinner of to-day. the goat was cooked whole, and in a standing posture, and when placed on the table, uncarved, the strongest fingered man gets the best part with more ease and facility than the weaker. whoever has seen a skinned calf’s head hanging by a butcher’s stall, can imagine how melancholy this cooked goat’s head looked.
mr. mustapha had no chairs or tables, but he had ample room round the tray in the middle of the floor, where this goat is placed. we all squatted as well as possible and dined at nine o’clock at night; each one of us had hold of mustapha’s goat at the same time. the consul was indeed skilled in obtaining long pieces of tenderloin. if he is as well posted in diplomatic affairs as in finding tender parts of a goat, he will do honor to england and america, or memphis of old. about 12 o’clock mustapha said, “all the dinner was eaten up, and now we would have some dancing.” the girls were called in, and they stocked their bodies, and made a general preparation with their bells tied to their waist. this was called tuning up. they went off in their different strains, as you have heard three or four sleigh turnouts, one after the other, and all getting together. such a jingling; such screwing in and out of bodies; such a gesturing; and such a quivering of the bodies from their necks to their knees, is only to be imagined. one girl stuck her head between her legs in front, whilst another done the same over backwards. a few minutes afterwards, we eat some dates, smoked some pipes, and drank some arrack, a liquid used here as we use whisky, brandy, and gin, to raise the spirits. the feast over, mustapha informed us that it was usual to pay his cook and waiter for their services. the next day he also informed us that it was usual to pay him for being our consul, as he performed this service for our government gratis. this is his short cut to the meeting house of distinction and gain. we paid, hoisted our sails, rowed away, and arrived in three weeks afterwards, back to cairo.
