sovereign, Sultan Hassan;” and at the words, his myrmidons, who had been led up from the vaults and distributed through the church, falling on the astonished usurper and his train, put them all to the sword. From thence they rushed to the citadel, of which they got possession; and before the sun went down, Sultan Hassan was once more proclaimed sovereign of Egypt. Such was the history of this building, as it was narrated to us on the spot. One of the Cavasses offered to show me the interior if I would disguise myself like a Turk; but as I felt no disposition to put my own neck to hazard in this mosque of the bloody baptism, I satisfied myself with looking at the outer walls. Close adjoining it are some lions, however, which are worthy of a visit. They are just from the deserts, and are very different from the abused and broken-spirited animals exhibited in our country and in Europe. They are confined in a room of no great dimensions, and are fastened only by a chain attached to the wall; and if any man, who calls himself one of the lords of creation, would meditate on the justice of his vaunted title, I would advise him to go and do it in this den of lions. The ladies of our party returned, after an absence of about an hour, greatly delighted with their visit; they were, I believe, the first foreign ladies ever permitted to enter this part of the palace, and were allowed to depart only on the promise of a longer visit as soon as circumstances would admit. From the Pasha’s palace we proceeded to visit “Joseph’s Well,” a deep pit for supplying the citadel with water, dug, however, not by the Joseph of our Scriptures, but by Saladin, whose name, I believe, was also Yousef or Joseph. It consists of two shafts, the upper about 150 feet in depth and 45 in diameter, with a winding gallery around, separated from the shaft by a wall pierced with openings for the admission of light. This is all cut out of the solid rock. The lower shaft is about 120 feet in depth, making altogether 270 feet. The water is raised to the top of the first shaft by means of oxen, and poured into a reservoir, whence it is carried up in a similar manner to a reservoir in the citadel; but it is brackish, and used for drinking only in times of siege.