Boulak is the port of Cairo, as the great city does not stand on the banks of the Nile, but a couple of miles away from it. Before the days of the railway Boulak was a place of considerable importance, as it was the point of arrival and departure for the steamers plying between Cairo and Alexandria, and at the present day it is the station for steamers ascending the Nile. It was chosen as the site of the Museum of Antiquities on account of the convenience of landing statues and other heavy objects directly from the boats that had brought them down the river, and the museum was erected on the very bank of the stream. But the position was found insecure, on account of the tendency of the Nile to change its channel, and for several years the safety of the treasures accumulated under the direction of Mariette Bey has been seriously threatened. [Illustration: EGYPTIAN SCULPTORS AT WORK.] Our friends passed through the gate-way, and found themselves in a garden filled with large statues and sphinxes. Their attention was attracted to the colossal statue of a king in a sitting posture, and close to it were several sphinxes. The Doctor explained that the figure represented one of the kings of the twelfth dynasty. Some of the sphinxes came from Karnak, and once formed part of the great avenue leading to the temple, while others were from Tanis and Sakkara. The statue of the king was of solid granite and admirably carved, leaving no doubt that the Egyptians were well advanced in the art of the sculptor. On the walls of the temples at Karnak there are several pictures that show how the makers of royal statues performed their work, and the methods in vogue seem to have been almost identical with those of modern sculptors. We have neither time nor space for describing all that our friends saw in the museum, and can only refer to the objects of greatest importance. As they had talked about the Rosetta Stone, and the key it gave to the translation of the language of the ancient Egyptians, the Doctor led the way to the "Tablet of Tanis," in the first hall of the museum, and told the youths to observe it closely. "It is," he explained, "a more perfect stone than the one found at Rosetta, as it is in a fine state of preservation, while the Rosetta one was badly defaced. Here is a decree in three languages--Greek, hieroglyphic, and demotic--and the translation confirms the correctness of Champollion's theory, which I have already explained. It was found in 1866 by Doctor Lepsius, and you see that it is regarded of great importance, as it is framed and covered with glass to protect it from possible injury." Frank asked what was the language of the decree, and how old it was.