A pilgrimage to the temples and tombs of Egypt, Nubia, and ...

ghirschjI: housseyn. 235
in Freyschutz, added in no small degree to the
unearthly character of the place. The closeness
of the atmosphere in chambers which no current
of air has ever refreshed, the heat and smoke
occasioned by the burning ropes, and above all
the abominable effluvium of the bats, produced
such a stifling sensation that I was glad to escape
from them into the open air ; but in taking a
last look at the chambers, with their colossal ac-
cessories penetrating far into the bowels of the
rock, and remembering at the same time, that,
when this temple was erected, the use of iron was
supposed to be unknown in Egypt, and gun-
powder not even dreamed of, I was seized with
a wondering awe of the people who could have
achieved works of so stupendous a nature, as if by
enchantment, without iron tools to hew, or gun-
powder to blast the solid rock.
The character of the people of Girsch6 Hous-
seyn is so notoriously bad, that we deemed it
advisable to go on shore armed, which, at all
events, gave us a feeling of security, although
we found in this instance, as in many others, the
applicability of the French proverb, "le diable
n'est pas si noir qu'on le peint,'' for we were not
called upon for any measures of self-defence ;
even lladgee Mustapha, who seldom leaves the
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