to refer to Sir Gardner Wilkinson. He has made a drawing of an ancient temple, and reproduced it as exactly as he could from the materials in his possession, and from a personal visit to the best preserved temples to be found in the country."

Frank ran below for a copy of the book, and soon returned with it. As they neared the ruins of Karnak the youths compared the scene before them with the printed picture, and tried to imagine themselves carried back to the time of Rameses and Sethi, when the temple was perfect, and not a stone of the vast mass had been displaced from its proper position.

"A procession is approaching the temple," said the Doctor, "in one of the celebrations for which the ancient Egyptians were famous. You see it passing along a raised causeway to the gate which admits to the grand enclosure; it carries banners with the devices of the King, and

A "BARIS," OR FUNERAL-BOAT.

midway between the gate and the building at the end of the causeway you see one of the sacred boats in which the souls of the dead are ferried over the lake that separates this world from the next. This lake is symbolized by a small lake, or basin, in the enclosure of the temple; you see it in the foreground of the picture, and

if it had not usually become filled with sand you would find it in all our visits to the ruins of these temples. A part of the funeral ceremony consisted of ferrying the mummy over the sacred lake in a baris, or funeralboat; there were generally several boats in a procession, and that containing the mummy was usually towed by one of the others.

"The wall of the enclosure was made high enough to prevent those on the outside from seeing what went on within. It is supposed that the priests wished to keep their rites and ceremonials to themselves, and were only willing to be seen when they had made proper preparations. Sometimes there were two and sometimes four gates, but generally there was only one point of entrance, which was always carefully guarded.

"The procession is just passing the outer gate-way, and leaving the paved road which leads to it. The gate-way consists of two massive towers, or propylæ, connected at the top by a broad platform, and the passage

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beneath is aimply large enough for all the wants of the processions that enter the place. Beyond the gate-way is another paved road, guarded on each side by a row of sphinxes, with their faces turned toward the causeway, and never deserting it for an instant, with their solemn stare. Sometimes the outer causeway was protected by sphinxes the same as the inner one, but this was the case only with the most important temples. At the end of this road we generally find a couple of obelisks, and close beyond them is a second propylon, more massive and much taller than the one at the entrance. Passing this propylon we enter an open court surrounded with a columned portico, and having a third propylon extending across its centre. Passing this court-yard we reach the great hall, whose roof, supported by many columns hewn from solid stone, admits only a dim and sombre light. Here the procession halts while the ceremonies for which it came are completed.

"Bear in mind," the Doctor continued, "that the temple among the ancient Egyptians was not strictly a place of religious worship, like the temples of the Greeks and Romans and the churches of modern days; it was a building erected by a king in honor of the divinities who were believed to have brought him prosperity in conquering his enemies or whose favor he sought. For this reason we always know by what king a temple was built, as he is always represented in the first place in the processions, and all the sacrifices and other ceremonies are in his name.

"You observe that there is a grove on both sides of the temple; the Egyptians always surrounded their temples with groves, and generally the trees were set out in rows. The divinities were supposed to linger about the trees, and certain deities were believed to shun a treeless spot. Perhaps some of the respect for trees was due to the difficulty of keeping them alive. Egypt is not a land of forests, and trees do not flourish. here except with much care and attention."

During this conversation about Egyptian temples the steamer steadily made her way toward Karnak and Luxor; she passed the ruins of Karnak, and soon drew up to the landing at the modern town. Luxor is a wretched place of about four thousand inhabitants, and if it were not for the reputation of the spot, and the number of strangers visiting it every winter, the town would soon cease to exist. The inhabitants live almost entirely on what they obtain from visitors, and they drive quite a prosperous trade in mummies and other antiquities, besides finding a good market for the few things raised in their gardens.

As soon as the boat was made fast to the bank the passengers hurried to land. The natives met them with donkeys for hire, and with all sorts

of antiquities for sale. Frank and Fred were rather puzzled with the way in which the natives pressed their wares upon the strangers, and Frank made an entry in his note-book as follows:

"They are a silent people here, and when they have anything to sell

they come in front of you, without saying a word, and hold the article directly before your eyes. If you wish to examine it you do so, and if desirous of buying you ask the price.

"The figure named is in no way a criterion of the value of the goods; a native will ask fifty dollars for something he would gladly sell for as many cents; you must judge for yourself how much you are willing to pay, and then make your offer. Most likely it will be refused, and the refusal is almost as silent as was the exhibition of the article. The man lowers it and walks away, but in five minutes he will come around again and repeat his performance. He asks less this time, perhaps, and you offer a little more, and he again goes away. You may come to terms after a time, but it seems to make no difference to him whether you do or not."

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Doctor Bronson said that possibly the silence of the natives was due to the fact that nearly all their antiquities were false, and they wanted the articles to do as much of the lying as they could. "There are," he remarked, "very few chances of getting anything genuine at Luxor; at present no excavations are in progress, and even if there were any, everything they bring to light should go to the government. They do a large business here in antiquities, and there certainly is no way of supplying the demand except by manufacture. It is currently reported that many of these things are made in England and France, and sent out here for sale; and it is also believed that there are factories here where false scarabæi are manufactured. Let me tell you something that happened when I was here some years ago:

"A man offered some scarabæi for sale, and declared they were gennine; to satisfy any doubts on that point, he offered to bring the certificate

of the English consul, or we might go with him to the Consulate and hear for ourselves. But it was whispered that the consul and the native were in partnership, and when we became satisfied that such was the case we suspended negotiations.

"Next it was whispered that the native had a factory where he manufactured the articles he offered for sale; we had a curiosity to see the