she was really the sole ruler of Egypt, and governed
the land wisely and well.

Perhaps the most interesting thing that happened in her reign was the
voyage of discovery which she caused to be made by some ships of her
fleet. Centuries before her time, when the world was young, the
Egyptians had made expeditions down the Red Sea to a land which they
sometimes called Punt, and sometimes "The Divine Land." Probably it was
part of the country that we now know as Somaliland. But for a very long
time these voyages had ceased, and people only knew by hearsay, and by
the stories of ancient days, of this wonderful country that lay away by
the Southern Sea.

One day, the Queen tells us, she was at prayers in the temple of the god
Amen at Thebes, when she felt a sudden inspiration. The god was giving
her a command to send an expedition to this almost forgotten land. "A
command was heard in the sanctuary, a behest of the god himself, that
the ways which lead to Punt should be explored, and that the roads to
the Ladders of Incense should be trodden." In obedience to this command,
the Queen at once equipped a little fleet of the quaint old galleys that
the Egyptians then used (Plate 1), and sent them out, with picked crews,
and a royal envoy in command, to sail down the Red Sea, in search of the
Divine Land. The ships were laden with all kinds of goods to barter with
the Punites, and a guard of Egyptian soldiers was placed on board.

We do not know how long it took the little squadron to reach its
destination. Sea voyages in those days were slow and dangerous. But at
last the ships safely reached the mouth of the Elephant River in
Somaliland, and went up the river with the tide till they came to the
village of the natives. They found that the Punites lived in curious
beehive-shaped houses, some of them made of wicker-work, and placed on
piles, so that they had to climb into them by ladders. The men were not
negroes, though some negroes lived among them; they were very much like
the Egyptians in appearance, wore pointed beards, and were dressed only
in loincloths, while the women wore a yellow sleeveless dress, which
reached halfway between the knee and ankle.

Nehsi, the royal envoy, landed with an officer and eight soldiers, and,
to show that he came in peace, he spread out on a table some presents
for the chief of the Punites--five bracelets, two gold necklaces, a
dagger, with belt and sheath, a battle-axe, and eleven strings