one with another on that account, Abram conferred with each of them, and, confuting the reasonings they made use of every one for their own practices, demonstrated that such reasonings were vain and void of truth; whereupon he was admired by them in those conferences as a very wise man, and one of great sagacity, when he discoursed on any subject he undertook; and this not only in understanding it, but in persuading other men also to assent to him. He communicated to them arithmetic, and delivered to them the science of astronomy; for, before Abram came into Egypt, they were unacquainted with those parts of learning, for that science came from the Chaldeans into Egypt, and from thence into Greece and elsewhere."*

This visit has been mentioned by the Greek and Roman writers, who state these visitors to be Shepherd Kings, the Hycsos. Abraham was immensely wealthy, for the Bible says that "Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife Sarai, and all that he had, and Lot, his nephew, with him, into the south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold."

The ruins that are now existing in the Vostani, or Middle Egypt-comprising the provinces of Fayoum, Beni-Souef, and Minieh-and in the Bahari, or Lower Egypt comprising the provinces of Bahireh, Rosetta, Damietta, Gharbiyeh, Menouf, Mansoura, and Sharkeyeh-were the constructions and erections of Joseph, otherwise called Zaphnath-paaneah, and his eleven brothers; while those found in the Saïd, or Upper Egypt-comprising the provinces of Thebes, * Josephus.

Djergeh, and Siout-as well as those in Nubia and Ethiopia, sometimes called Abyssinia, owe their erection to Moses, the descendant of Levi, one of the brothers of Joseph.

Being the adopted son of Princess Thurmuthis, daughter of Pharaoh, Moses ruled Egypt as his ancestors had done before his time. His return after the siege and re-conquest of Meroë, and the entrance in state of his bride, the Princes Tharbis, daughter of the King of Ethiopia, are commemorated on the walls of the palace in Upper Egypt. He became very hateful to the Egyptians on account of his great acts and the power he displayed, so that they conspired against him.

To save his life Moses left Egypt, and meeting Kikanus, the King of Ethiopia, returning home from an incursion into Assyria, Moses went with him and his army. After a residence of nine years with the King, the Ethiopians elected Moses to the throne of Ethiopia on the death of Kikanus. This event took place in the hundred and fifty-seventh year after Israel went down into Egypt.*

On the son of the King coming of age, Moses abdicated and left Ethiopia. The Ethiopians made him many rich presents, and sent him away with great honours.

In Abyssinia. there is a colony of people quite distinct from the Ethiopians. They differ totally from them in personal appearance, being fair and handsome, and decidedly of the Jewish type. In religion and customs and language they resemble the Jews; the characters of their writing are similar *The Talmud.

to the Hebrew. This people must have entered Ethiopia with Moses, and stayed behind when he went away and entered Midian. The place they оссиру is called Amhara, situate on a hill, and their language Amharic.

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CHAPTER VI.

THE SPHINX-THE ENTRANCE.

THE Great Sphinx that is on the Mokattam Hill, facing the large Pyramids of Jeezeh, is the link of union between the north and south of Egypt, as well as the union of the works of those great men living at different periods of time as rulers of Egypt--Joseph and Moses. The following account of this Sphinx is taken from a work called View of Ancient and Modern Egypt, by the Rev. Michael Russell, LL.D.

"Our account of the mechanical productions of ancient Egypt would be incomplete did we mention the Great Sphinx, which has always been regarded as an accompaniment, and sometimes even as a rival, to the Pyramids. The latest information in regard to this stupendous figure was obtained through the persevering labours of Mr. Caviglia, whose name has been already mentioned with so much honour.

"After the most fatiguing and anxious endeavours during several months, he succeeded in laying open the whole statue to its base, and exposing a clear area extending to a hundred feet from its front. 'It is not easy,' says Mr. Salt, who witnessed the process

of excavation, for any person unused to operations of this kind to form the smallest idea of the difficulties which he had to surmount, more especially when working at the bottom of the trench; for, in spite of every precaution, the slightest breath of wind, or concussion, set all the surrounding particles of sand in motion, so that the sloping sides began to crumble away, and mass after mass to come tumbling down, till the whole surface bore no unapt resemblance to a cascade of water. Even when the sides appeared most firm, if the labourers suspended their work but for an hour, they found on their return that they had the greatest part of it to do over again. This was particularly the case on the southern side of the paw, where the whole of the people-from sixty to a hundred-were employed for seven days without making any sensible advance, the sand rolling down in one continued torrent. But the discovery amply rewarded the toil and expense which were incurred in revealing the structure of this wonderful work of art.

"The huge legs stretched out fifty feet in advance from the body, which is in a cumbent posture; fragments of an enormous beard were found resting beneath the chin; and there were seen all the appendages of a temple, granite tablet, and altar, arranged on a regular platform immediately in front. On this pavement, and at an equal distance between the paws of the figure, was the large slab of granite just mentioned, being not less than fourteen feet high, seven broad, and two thick. The face of this stone, which fronted the east, was highly embellished with sculptures in bas-relief, the subject representing two