the lower aisles. They are so strong, and so free, and so impressively magnificent as compared with the close-bound buds which, to the eye unfamiliar with the papyrus, are likely to suggest nothing so much as stalks of asparagus.

I say the temple of Khonsu is older than its gate. Rameses III built it, so that it is later in time than the best Theban period; and a mark of its lateness is to be found in the use of fluted columns in the rear courts, a decided innovation in a land where hitherto smooth round columns had been universally preferred because of their greater utility for bearing hieroglyphic decoration. A few windows with stone gratings likewise appeared - but these were not unknown to the older architects, and fine large examples of them survive in the great temple of Ammon hard by. As a further peculiarity, I noted that this temple of Khonsu, instead of having a deeply inclosed sanctuary, was open at both ends—seemingly not as holy a spot as most others.

It was pleasantly cool in the shade of those massive pillars, but we were not permitted long to remain there because the rapidly increasing warmth made it advisable to hasten on to the huge shrine of Ammon-Ra- the most notable as well as the largest of the Egyptian temples, dedicated to the greatest of the gods and constantly added to by the most