The main conditions of the exchange were arranged at a banquet, in which they spread before the barbarians a sumptuous display of Egyptian delicacies, consisting of bread, beer, wine, meat, and carefully prepared and flavoured vegetables. Payment for every object was to be made at the actual moment of purchase. For several days there was a constant stream of people, and asses groaned beneath their burdens. The Egyptian purchases comprised the most varied objects: ivory tusks, gold, ebony, cassia, myrrh, cynocephali and green monkeys, greyhounds, leopard skins, large oxen, slaves, and last, but not least, thirty-one incense trees, with their roots surrounded by a ball of earth and placed in large baskets. The lading of the ships was a long and tedious affair. All available space being at length exhausted, and as much cargo placed on board as was compatible with the navigation of the vessel, the squadron set sail and with all speed took its way northwards. [Illustration: 366.jpg THE EMBARKATION OF THE INCENSE SYCOMORES ON BOARD THE EGYPTIAN FLEET] Drawn by Bouclier, from a photograph by Beato. The Egyptians touched at several places on the coast on their return journey, making friendly alliances with the inhabitants; the Him added a quota to their freight, for which room was with difficulty found on board,--it consisted not only of the inevitable gold, ivory, and skins, but also of live leopards and a giraffe, together with plants and fruits unknown on the banks of the Nile.* * Lieblein thought that their country was explored, not by the sailors who voyaged to Puanit, but by a different body who proceeded by land, and this view was accepted by Ed. Meyer. The completed text proves that there was but a single expedition, and that the explorers of Puanit visited the Ilim also. The giraffe which they gave does not appear in the cargo of the vessels at Puanit; the visit must, therefore, have been paid on the return voyage, and the giraffe was probably represented on the destroyed part of the walls where Naville found the image of this animal wandering at liberty among the woods.