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

258 AN ARRIVAL.
done so, to have saved them from the desecration
that awaits them; for they are to be converted
into lime. Verily this is the age of utilitarianism,
even in Egypt
!
All the morning we lingered among the ruins,
and then clambered to the summit of the great
propyl on, from whence we obtained a lovely view
of the rock-sprinkled river and the neighbouring
island of Beghe, where some fragments of a
temple are still visible ; and I believe that even-
ing would have found us still there, moralizing
in a very edifying manner upon the wrecks of by-
gone kingdoms and empires that lay scattered at
our feet, and literally finding " sermons in stones,"
had we not descried the English flag flying from
the stern of a Cangia that was struggling her way
between the First Cataract and tlie village of
Mahatta. Curious to know whom it might con-
tain, we descended from our airy post, and re-
turning to the Dahabieh, steered for Mahatta
about a mile and a half distant — which we
reached almost in the same moment with the
Cangia in question, each boat firing a salute of
double-barrelled guns. The arrival proved to
be Mr. H , of Alexandria, in his own Cangia,
and he announced to us that three others were
then working their way through the Cataract. Two
—