solids, rising on a plain of the Desert-immensity projected on eternity!-Colossal tombs of a lost secret-the wonder of the world which we called ancient. They were antiques even in that age of antiquities!!! I was not disappointed; I felt as if I had solved a calculus in solid trigonometry. I almost thought I had squared the circle of a world!" THE PACHA. "We had retired from the gates of Hassan, and were returning back to the Hotel, wending our way through the main bazaar, when we were startled by the shrill searching snap of the courier's korbag. The crowds of sooks dispersed at the sound of the cracking 'Make way for the Pacha!' The sound of the alarm is retiring multitude. Men, women, and children shrink away behind the counters of the bazaar; the boys shove their donkeys suddenly and violently round by the haunches into the narrow side-streets, the camel leaders goad their beasts around the corners of the wall, and the shopkeepers drop their work and pipes as the air rings with the repeated order, 'Make way! Shemalek! Riglack! Riglack! to the right! to the left! out of the road of the King! Then, as the bostangi runs by in breathless haste, the Nizam guard at his post drops his musket at the salute; when suddenly, in hot speed, approach four spirited white Arabians, and dash through the crowded thoroughfare, bearing along the august person of the Viceroy; and while the carriage rushes by,— it is but the vision of a moment,-I saw within its folds the long venerable white beard of a noble old man, hiding the visage of Mehemet Ali. That sight was like a flickering thong, as the cawass shouted, 'clear the path of the Sultan !' passed from the mouth of the dream of eventide. He looked like the spirit of the East; and as his small, dark, brilliant eyes flashed out, discovering the contour of his smoky beard, the vision vanished like a star behind the clouds of midnight, and impressed me with a more august sense of the omnipotent thrall of the sovereign, than would an age of courts. That sight was enough for me; I would not spoil the charm of such a glimpse for all the pomp and glory of a court, when the king is surrounded by guards, officers, eunuchs, and satraps. CONTRACT OF HIRE FOR THE NILE VOYAGE. "After a week of delay, I had fully resolved to proceed up the Nile. That determination was followed by the selection of a boat, called cangiah, in Egypt. Having procured one of about 150 ardebs (750 bushels)—the only one in fact to be had at that advanced state of the season-in company with Ben Hamet, the Reis, and the donkeys, we rode to the gate of the American Consulate. As usual, his agent was not to be found at home. We then proceeded to the English Embassy, and the solemn instrument of hire-this indenture of cangiah--was formally written in Arabic, and left for translation in the hands of the cawass. The next day we returned, found the papers ready, and this transaction was closed to the satisfaction of all parties, except the consular agent, who never was paid by the Reis Suleiman. THE TRANSLATION. The contract ran in the following words: 'Wednesday, the 23d day of the month Showel, of the year 1263, Mr. ——, Knight Errant, an American, has agreed to take a boat from the Reis Suleiman Mahomet, floatman of the Nile, to go up the Nile as far as Waddy Halfa-or to Jericho, if both parties are agreed, upon the following conditions. 1. The boat is to be navigated by eight able men, comprising the Reis and steersman-excluding men with their thumbs cut off, or blind of both eyes. 2. The Reis and crew to be always obedient to the hirer, who is to be Lord High Admiral of the Navy, with powers as supreme as the Grand Turk-to stop where he pleases, etc. 3. Boat to be in perfect order, warranted free from rats and other vermin-no logs shall be put before the bows, nor any stones tied to the rudder. 4. None of the crew shall leave the boat without permis sion, under pretence of seeing their sweethearts, or for tobacco, or to smoke, under penalty of severe "catting" and a dinner on pork. If any run away, the Reis to run after them. 5. The boat must sail day and night if the wind blows; if calm, they must track up the Nile, tackled to the vessel as to a cart. 6. The Reis must select snug places to stop at night; they must be safe from the attacks of rats, hyenas, jackals, and land-robbers. 7. Reis is not allowed to take on board any of his cousins; brothers, sweethearts or cronies, and no goods except the owner's. 8. The Reis shall be allowed twenty-four hours at Esneh, or Sioot, to make bread-this is understood not to include the privilege of making love or playing 'possum. once. 9. It is understood, that all the crew shall not smoke at At noon, when it is smoking hot on deck, the crew must abstain from all dances, banjo playing, and singing, as f they understand it, while the charterer or his friends are taking a siesta. 10. Terms-first month payable in advance. 11. All disputes to be referred to her Majesty's consul at Cairo-and both parties will wait patiently until they hear from the Imperial Lady at Saint Jame's. "Dated, Cairo, Showel 23, 1263." "This contract was duly acknowledged and witnessed. Both parties subscribed. The hirer merely attached a flourish to his name, a sort of triumphal curve at the completion of a wonderful deed, and an arch expression of the gammony nature of the law of the land. Reis Suleiman sealed the instrument with his signet, and as the weight of his authority fell upon the roll, it left the impression of a ring of Arabic talismanic symbol, much like the outlines of a smashed spider. I often thought of the significance of that act; and when among the ruins of Thebes, the mind referred back to that scene to explain the mighty import of some of the cartouches of the ancient kings, who stamped their initial on granite, and thus left the original of that custom of seals which has been retained by their posterity in wax." THE ISLAND OF PHILE. Fair was the Isle, as Sylph abode, I ween, In silvery course slow winding, charmed the vale." "Having dismissed our guides, who were clamorous for backsheesh, and turning away from the crowd, which pressed upon us to convey us over in their mudscow, we hurried away from the landing, and made for our boat, which was at anchor near the point of a projecting headland. "The party was soon rowed across the Nile, and shortly after leaving the left bank we came abruptly in sight of the temple of Isis, as Philo, like a beautiful creation, floated out upon the water, embosomed, as it were, amid the most charming dells and gorgeous natural scenery, unsurpassed by any thing ever viewed on earth. Passing by the side of craggy and picturesque rocks which fringed the border of the wild and rapid current, now catching views of drooping palms, bowing their foliaged heads as if in homage to the refreshing waters; again contemplating with rapture the exuberance and beauty of the unnumbered flowers that adorned the shore, mingling with clusters of acacias clambering among the rocks, we indulged full long in gazing upon this panorama of beauty breaking through the openings of ruined pyle and the relics of fallen towers; and beyond, where at the sudden turn of the shore we viewed the high and pointed needles of porphyry bristle around that rocky barrier which loomed against the sky, and frowned like the citadel of the ancient gods, over the wild wanderings of the turbid Nile. Far beyond the reach of the eye, the bold Nubian chain rose gracefully from the valley, and swelled in fantastic forms from amid picturesque vales and dells; now approaching near the isle of Berbe, and separated only to inclose within its encircling belt the wonderful ruins of those temples which were dedicated to Isis by Ptolemy, and held 66 sacred" in the memory of the priests, from the tragedy of the murdered and embalmed Osiris. 66 "Philoe, no less "the beautiful" than devotional in its aspect of inland loveliness, thus surrounded and hemmed in by its marginal of granite, and occupied by the masses of |