Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 2, No. 12, May, 1851.Various
History
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 2, No. 12, May, 1851.
Various
American literature -- Periodicals; Civilization -- Periodicals; Culture -- Periodicals
full of mummies piled up in various ways--some standing, some lying, and
some on their heads."
Afterward, Belzoni traveled to the shores of the Red Sea, inspected the
ruins of Berenice; then returned to Cairo, and directed excavations to
be made at the bases of the great pyramids of Ghizeh; penetrated into
that of Chephren--which had hitherto been inaccessible to Europeans--and
discovered within it the sacred chamber where repose the hallowed bones
of the bull Apis. The Valley of Faioum, the Lake Moeris, the ruins of
Arsinoë, the sands of Libya, all yielded up their secrets to his
dauntless spirit of research. He visited the oasis of El-Cassar, and the
Fountain of the Sun; strangled in his arms two treacherous guides who
tried to assassinate him; and then left Egypt, and returned to Padua
with his wife.
The son of the humble barber had now become a rich and celebrated
personage. A triumphal entry was prepared for him; and the municipal
authorities of his native city met him at the gate, and presented him
with an address. Manfredini was commissioned to engrave a medal which
should commemorate the history of the illustrious traveler. England,
however, soon claimed him; and on his arrival in London, he was received
with the same honors as in his own country. Then he published an account
of his travels, under the following title: "Narrative of the Operations
and recent Discoveries in the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs, and Cities of
Egypt and Nubia, &c."
In 1822, Belzoni returned to Africa, with the intention of penetrating
to Timbuctoo. Passing in the following year from the Bight of Benin
toward Houssa, he was attacked with dysentery; was carried back to Gato,
and thence put on board an English vessel lying off the coast. There,
with much firmness and resignation, he prepared to meet his end. He
intrusted the captain with a large amethyst to be given to his wife, and
also with a letter which he wrote to his companion through good and evil
days. Soon afterward, he breathed his last. They buried him at Gato, at
the foot of a large tree, and engraved on his tomb the following epitaph
in English--
"_Here lies Belzoni, who died at this place, on his way to Timbuctoo,
December 3d, 1823._"
Belzoni was but forty-five years old when he died. A statue of him was
erected at Padua, on the 4th of July, 1827. Very recently, the
government of Great Britain bestowed on his widow the tardy solace of a
small pension.
Giovanni Belzoni, the once starving mountebank, became one of the most
illustrious men in Europe!--an encouraging example to all those who have
not only sound heads to project, but stout hearts to execute.
PHANTOMS AND REALITIES.--AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY.
(_Continued from Page 613._)
PART THE SECOND--NOON.
V.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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