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

78 CAIRO.
them the tribute due from all travellers to the
wonders of art, and carrying the homage of my
impatience, curiosity, and admiration to the ve-
nerable feet of these the elder-born of the monu-
ments of antiquity. The truth is, that the waters
from the late inundation still cover part of the plain
that intervenes between Cairo and Ghizeh, so that
until they subside, the Pyramids cannot be ap-
proached by the direct road. To get at them
now, a circuitous route which doubles the dis-
tance must be taken ; and this would entail upon
us, in this season of short days, the necessity of
passing a night in the adjacent tombs,—a plan
to be avoided for many reasons which touch
travellers too nearly, in this land of superfluous
animation, to be wholly overlooked by them.
We have therefore judged it advisable to defer
our visit to the Pyramids until our return from
Upper Egypt; and, although I at first objected
to this arrangement, in my natural impatience to
see all that is within my reach with as little
delay as possible, I now really think it the plan
best adapted to ensure my complete enjoyment
of the wonders that we are about to visit, by
reserving the greatest of them all for the last.
This, then, is the reason of our having apparently
given the go-by to the Pharaohs for the Caliphs,