[4] See Appendix: Mr. Arnold’s letter; p. 195. While in Egypt, Sir James Alexander became acquainted with Mr. John Dixon, C.E., who had given considerable attention to the subject of the Obelisk and to the mode of its transport to England. Mr. Dixon had already made some successful explorations of the Great Pyramid, and had then brought his skill and experience, as a civil engineer, to bear on the practical question of the means and contrivance by which the transport of our Obelisk might be effected. Such was the state of affairs in November, 1876, when Sir James Alexander first broached the subject to the author of these pages. Shortly afterwards the writer had an interview with Mr. John Dixon; succeeded by a conference, in which he was assisted by the judgment and advice of two valued friends—Mr. Charles Alfred Swinburne, of Bedford Row, and Mr. Henry Palfrey Stephenson, civil engineer. The conclusion arrived at in this conference was, that the undertaking was practicable; and an agreement was shortly afterwards (January 30th, 1877) signed, by which Mr. John Dixon engaged to set up the Obelisk on the banks of the Thames safe and sound. The incidents of voyage, the shipwreck, the abandonment and recovery of the cylinder-ship “Cleopatra,” together with her subsequent adventures, form an episode of surpassing interest, which has already been partly analysed in the journals of the day; but must now be left, for the completion of its history, until the Obelisk shall have been safely erected in London, on a site worthy of its antiquity and symbolical significance, and of the dignity of the metropolis of Great Britain. A happy chance already points to the precincts of Westminster Abbey, with its harmonious architectural and classical surroundings:—Westminster Hall, the Houses of Parliament, the Government Offices, the Horse-Guards, the Admiralty, Trafalgar Square, the Thames, and the most beautiful of its bridges, as a possible site; and in very truth, no better place can be found for it in our great city, even should Queen Anne graciously condescend to step from her pedestal at St. Paul’s, to make way for her more ancient monumental companion. In the compilation of these pages, the writer has availed himself of all the sources of information which his leisure has permitted him to consult; and he now takes the opportunity of expressing his especial obligations to the works of—Birch, Bonomi, Mariette, Sir Gardner Wilkinson, Sir Henry Rawlinson, George Rawlinson, Burton, Chabas, Pierret, Sharpe, Lane, Admiral Smyth, Rev. George Tomlinson, Parker, W. R. Cooper, Bayle St. John, Lady Duff Gordon, and Miss Edwards; although these authors represent only a portion of the writers in whose pages he has sought for instruction. LONDON _December, 1877._ CONTENTS.