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

PHARAOH'S BED. 257
same materials, and with no ceiling but the azure
heavens. Compared with the heavy masses of
Egyptian structures, the lofty columns of Pha-
raoh's Bed, showing glimpses of the bright sky
between them, appear even more airy and elegant
than they really are, and recall to mind the
graceful efforts of Grecian art ; seen from the
river, they fonn the most striking and attractive
feature in the w^hole island.
An Arab village has, at some time or another,
been superimposed upon the roof of the Temple
of Isis, but has long since been abandoned, and
is now crumbling to the dust. Ruin upon ruin
such a wilderness of stones does the space occu-
pied by the temples exhibit, that it really is a
service of danger to scramble through them ; and
had it not been for the assistance of our sure-
footed Arab sailors, and the thoughtful care of
Reis Ali, who carried me over all the most
difficult places, I think I must have dislocated
some of my limbs among the pit-falls and rocking
stones that abound. Two headless sphinxes of
granite lie prostrate among the ruins ; and we
found workmen employed in demolishing blocks
of hieroglyphicked stone, worth their weight in
gold to the lovers of the antique, which we
would have gladly carried away, could we have
VOL. I. s
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