day, was at Akhmim by the 17th. He set sail again on the 18th,
stayed at Thebes from the 13th of January, 1738, till the 17th, and
finally moored at Assuan on the evening of January 20th, making in
all forty-five days, fourteen of which were spent at various
stopping-places. If the diary of a Greek excursionist or tourist had
come down to us, we should probably find in it entries of a very similar
kind.* The departure from Memphis would take place in November or
December; ten or twelve days later the traveller would find himself
at Panopolis;** from Panopolis to Elephantine, stopping at Coptos and
Thebes, would take about a month, allowing time for a stay at Thebes,
and returning to Memphis in February or March.

* Herodotus fixes twenty days for the voyage from Sais to
Elephantine. This period of time must be probably correct,
since at the present day dahabeahs constantly run from Cairo
to the second cataract and back in two months, including
stoppages of ten days to a fortnight for seeing the
monuments. The twenty days of Herodotus represent the
minimum duration of the voyage, without taking into account
the stoppages and accidents which often delay sailing
vessels on the Nile. Nine days, which Herodotus gives as the
time for reaching Thebes, is not sufficient, if the voyage
is undertaken in the usual way, stopping every evening for
the night; but it would be possible if the navigation were
uninterrupted day and night. This is now rarely done, but it
might have been frequent in ancient times, especially in the
service of the State.

** It would seem clear that Herodotus stopped at Panopolis
and had communications with the people of the town.
[Panopolis or Khemmis is the present Ekhmim.--Tr.]

[Illustration: 362a.jpg LONG STRINGS OF LADEN VESSELS]

Drawn by Boudier, from a photograph by Gautier.

The greater part of the time was employed in getting from one point to
another, and the necessity of taking advantage of a favourable wind in
going up the river, often obliged the travellers to neglect more than
one interesting locality.

[Illustration: 302b.jpg THE VAST SHEET OF WATER IN THE MIDDAY HEAT]

The Greek was not so keenly alive to the picturesqueness of the scenes
through which he passed as the modern visitor, and in the account of
his travels he took no note of the long lines of laden boats going up or
down stre