of glass
beads--much such a present as a European explorer might give to-day to
an African chief. The natives came down in great excitement to see the
strangers who had brought such treasures, and were astonished at the
arrival of such a fleet. "How is it," they said, "that you have reached
this country, hitherto unknown to men? Have you come by way of the sky,
or have you sailed on the waters of the Divine Sea?" The chief, who was
called Parihu, came down with his wife Aty, and his daughter. Aty rode
down on a donkey, but dismounted to see the strangers, and, indeed, the
poor donkey must have been greatly relieved, for the chieftainess was an
exceedingly fat lady, and her daughter, though so young, showed every
intention of being as fat as her mother.

After the envoy and the chief had exchanged compliments, business began.
The Egyptians pitched a tent in which they stored their goods for
barter, and to put temptation out of the way of the natives, they drew a
guard of soldiers round the tent. For several days the market remained
open, and the country people brought down their treasures, till the
ships were laden as deeply as was safe. The cargo was a varied and
valuable one. Elephants' tusks, gold, ebony, apes, greyhounds, leopard
skins, all were crowded into the galleys, the apes sitting gravely on
the top of the bales of goods, and looking longingly at the land which
they were leaving.

But the most important part of the cargo was the incense, and the
incense-trees. Great quantities of the gum from which the incense was
made were placed on board, and also thirty-one of the incense sycamores,
their roots carefully surrounded with a large ball of earth, and
protected by baskets. Several young chiefs of the Punites accompanied
the expedition back to Thebes, to see what life was like in the strange
new world which had been revealed to them. Altogether the voyage home
must have been no easy undertaking, for the ships, with their heavy
cargoes, must have been very difficult to handle.

The arrival of the squadron at Thebes, which they must have reached by a
canal connecting the Nile with the Red Sea, was made the occasion of a
great holiday festival. Long lines of troops in gala attire came out to
meet the brave explorers, and an escort of the royal fleet accompanied
the exploring squadron up to the temple quay where the ships were to
moor. Then the Thebans feasted their eyes on the wonderful treasures
that had come fr