This maritime power of Egypt calls to mind two leading prejudices of the ancient Egyptians, which very much influenced their destiny: they were averse to change, preferring, in all things, to remain as they were, rather than risk the uncertainty of reform; and, secondly, they had a religious horror of the ocean, believing it to be a breach of the divine law to endeavour to subdue it, and attempt to navigate it. Therefore, when we hear of ships from Alexandria finding their way through the Pillars of Hercules (otherwise the Straits of Gibraltar) to England, we recognise at once the adventure of neighbouring nations, particularly that of the Phœnicians, who traded with Cornwall, exchanging wheat for metal more than five hundred years before the Christian era. The last of the Egyptian kings, Nectanebo II., made a struggle against this ancient prejudice, and fitted up a fleet in the Red Sea, manned by Phœnicians. His ships, steering steadily to the south, and afterwards following the line of the coast, succeeded in rounding the Cape of Good Hope, and reaching the Straits of Gibraltar, and so accomplished the circumnavigation of Africa. The voyage lasted between two and three years, and the captain returned in safety to Egypt, but without his ships; he consequently failed to obtain credit for, or belief in, his success. [Illustration: The obelisk at Constantinople, standing in the open space of the Atmeidan, near the church of St. Sophia. It is square at the base, and supported at the corners upon four small metallic blocks, which rest on a narrow pedestal. Its present height is only fifty feet; but seeing that it was originally the companion at Heliopolis of the great obelisk of St. John Lateran, it must therefore have been shortened, possibly as a consequence of accident. It was conveyed to Byzantium by Constantine, and erected on its present site, probably by Theodosius. The figure is not to be commended for its exactness; the monument is evidently much too tall. The mosque in the background is that of the Sultan Achmet. ]