Considerable time was spent in the inspection of the temple, and in admiring the sculptures on the walls. Among them is a portrait of Cleopatra, which is supposed to have been made in the lifetime of that historic lady, and may therefore be regarded as a fair likeness of her. It does not represent her as a pretty woman, and therefore we may doubt whether she was as handsome as the artists of modern times have tried to make her. Some of those who wish to believe she was very pretty say the portrait at Denderah was made by an artist who never saw her, and did his work from an inaccurate likeness. [Illustration: EGYPTIAN PRINCE CARRIED IN A PALANQUIN.] CHAPTER XV. ARRIVAL AT LUXOR.--THE GREAT TEMPLE OF KARNAK. Frank and Fred were impatient to get away from Keneh, as their next halt was to be at Luxor, the ancient Thebes, where the steamer would remain three days, to enable them to see the monuments of ancient Egypt in that vicinity. As the boat wound along the river in the direction of Thebes, the youths were watching from the deck for the first indications of their proximity to that wonderful city. Suddenly the sharp eyes of Fred caught sight of a sort of tower in the distance, and he at once called his cousin's attention to his discovery. "Yes, and there's another, and another!" shouted Frank; "and the walls of a great building, too." "That must be Karnak," said Fred. "You know they told us Karnak was a mile or more below Thebes, and its ruins were the first we would see." "You are quite right," said the Doctor, who just then came up. "That is Karnak, or rather it is what remains of the great temple which, even in its ruin, is one of the wonders of the world." "What a pity it is in ruins," one of the youths remarked. "Wouldn't it be nice if some rich man would amuse himself and spend his money by building a temple like what this once was? It would be so interesting and instructive." "I'm afraid you are not likely to find the rich man who will do it," said the Doctor, with a smile. "It would take a vast amount of money, and he would be open to the charge of trying to revive the heathenism of the ancient Egyptians, and instructing the people of our time in idolatrous practices." "I never thought of that," was the reply; "but any way I would like to see an Egyptian temple just as it was finished, and before it began to go to ruin." "If a picture will satisfy you," the Doctor answered, "you have only to refer to Sir Gardner Wilkinson. He has made a drawing of an ancient temple, and reproduced it as exactly as he could from the materials in his possession, and from a personal visit to the best preserved temples to be found in the country." [Illustration: A COMPLETE EGYPTIAN TEMPLE.]