taken from these quarries.

At Bedreshyn we landed, Mohammed procured donkeys for us, and we set off
to see the Pyramids of Sakkara.

We rode first to the village of Mitrahenny, where the ancient city of
Memphis once stood. The country round it is very pretty. The village
itself stands in a wood of palm-trees. We were told that at the time at
which the Nile overflows its banks the people leave their houses and
live in the palm-trees, where they put up a sort of scaffolding to sleep
on. When the river falls again, they leave the trees, repair their mud
huts, and live in them till the next overflow.

Memphis, formerly such a splendid city, is gone. There is scarcely a
trace left of this once busy capital of Lower Egypt in which Moses
lived, where the poor Jewish captives toiled to make up the tale of
bricks for Pharaoh's taskmasters. Some few remains of foundation-walls
are found in the sand. But nothing is left to tell of the temples and
palaces of this ancient city, except only a part of a colossal statue of
Rameses, called Sesostris. It is of a pure white, made of polished
limestone, and must have been more than forty feet in height. The statue
lay on its face, and we could not see the features. It has a scroll in
its hands. Pieces of the legs and feet were lying about. All around are
magnificent palm-trees.

[Illustration: BRICKMAKING _(from Egyptian Sculpture)_.]

The Pyramids of Sakkara are near the village of the same name. The
largest of them is called by the Arabs "the Pyramid of Degrees." It has
outside six stories or degrees, each smaller than the one below it.
Inside are passages and chambers.

Near the pyramids are the famous pits, in which are ibis mummies. The
ibis was a sacred bird among the Egyptians. We bought one of these
mummies. It was enclosed in a round earthen jar, the top of which was
shaped like a cone, and was fastened down strongly with cement.

[Illustration: BRICKMAKING _(from Egyptian Sculpture)_.]

The bird was rolled up in long bandages of linen. The head and neck were
folded over the breast, the wings laid close to the sides, and the long
legs were folded up and brought close to the beak. The bird was perfect.
We said we knew how delighted you all, and especially Hugh and Lucy,
would be to see it. But our curiosity was selfish. As soon as the air
played on it, it crumbled into dust.

[Illustration: THE SACRED IBIS.]

There are some fine tombs near the Pyramids of Sakkara. We w