hey had colonised, the land of the
shrouded, or of mummies, _uit_, and the name continued to designate
it long after the advance of geographical knowledge had removed this
paradise further towards the west. The Oases fell one after the other
into the hands of frontier princes--that of Bahnesa coming under the
dominion of the lord of Oxyrrhynchus, that of Dakhel under the lords of
Thinis. The Nubians of Amamit had relations, probably, with the Timihu,
who owned the Oasis of Dush--a prolongation of that of Dakhel, on the
parallel of Elephantine. Hirkhuf accompanied the expedition to the
Amamit, succeeded in establishing peace among the rival tribes, and
persuaded them "to worship all the gods of Pharaoh:" he afterwards
reconciled the Iritit, Amamit, and Uauait, who lived in a state of
perpetual hostility to each other, explored their valleys, and collected
from them such quantities of incense, ebony, ivory, and skins that three
hundred asses were required for their transport.

[Illustration: 278.jpg HIRKHUF RECEIVING POSTHUMOUS HOMAGE AT THE DOOR
OF HIS TOMB FROM HIS SON]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph, taken in 1892, by
Alexander Gayet.

He was even fortunate enough to acquire a Danga from the land of ghosts,
resembling the one brought from Puanit by Biurdidi in the reign of Assi
eighty years before. Metesouphis, in the mean time, had died, and his
young brother and successor, Papi II., had already been a year upon the
throne. The new king, delighted to possess a dwarf who could perform
"the dance of the god," addressed a rescript to Hirkhuf to express his
satisfaction; at the same time he sent him a special messenger, Uni, a
distant relative to Papi I.'s minister, who was to invite him to come
and give an account of his expedition. The boat in which the explorer
embarked to go down to Memphis, also brought the Danga, and from that
moment the latter became the most important personage of the party. For
him all the royal officials, lords, and sacerdotal colleges hastened to
prepare provisions and means of conveyance; his health was of greater
importance than that of his protector, and he was anxiously watched
lest he should escape. "When he is with thee in the boat, let there be
cautious persons about him, lest he should fall into the water; when he
rests during the night, let careful people sleep beside him, in case of
his escaping quickly in the night-time. For my Majesty desires to see
this dwa