Page 136.—“_A small island in the centre of Lake Mœris._”—The position
here given to Lake Mœris, in making it the immediate boundary of the city
of Memphis to the south, corresponds exactly with the site assigned to it
by Maillet:—“Memphis avoit encore à son midi un vaste reservoir, par où
tout ce qui peut servir à la commodité et à l’agrément de la vie lui étoit
voituré abondamment de toutes les parties de l’Egypte. Ce lac qui la
terminoit de ce côté‐là,” &c. &c. Tom. 2. p. 7.
Ib.—“_Ruins rising blackly above the wave._”—“On voit sur la rive
orientale des antiquités qui sont presque entièrement sous les eaux.”
_Belzoni._
Page 137.—“_Its thundering portals._”—“Quorundam autem domorum (in
Labyrintho) talis est situs, ut adaperientibus foris tonitru intus
terribile existat.” _Pliny._
Page 138.—“_Leaves that serve as cups._”—_Strabo._ According to the French
translator of Strabo, it was the fruit of the _faba Ægyptiaca_, not the
leaf, that was used for this purpose. “Le _κιβωριον_,” he says, “devoit
s’entendre de la capsule ou fruit de cette plante, dont les Egyptiens se
servoient comme d’un vase, imaginant que l’eau du Nil y devenoit
delicieuse.”
Page 142.—“_The fish of these waters_,” _&c._—_Ælian_, lib. 6. 32.
Ib.—“_Pleasure boats or yachts._”—Called Thalamages, from the pavilion on
the deck. v. _Strabo_.
Page 144.—“_Covered with beds of those pale, sweet roses._”—As April is
the season for gathering these roses (See _Malte‐brun’s Economical
Calendar_), the Epicurean could not, of course, mean to say that he saw
them actually in flower.
Page 146.—“_The lizards upon the bank._”—“L’or et l’azur brillent en
bandes longitudinales sur leur corps entier, et leur queue est du plus
beau bleu celeste.” _Sonnini._
Page 147.—“_The canal through which we now sailed._”—“Un canal,” says
_Maillet_, “très profond et très large y voituroit les eaux du Nil.”
Page 150.—“_For a draught of whose flood_,” _&c._—“Anciennement on portoit
les eaux du Nil jusqu’au des contrées fort éloignées, et surtout chez les
princesses du sang des Ptolomées, mariées dans des families étrangères.”
_De Pauw._
Page 154.—“_Bearing each the name of its owner._”—“Le nom du maître y
étoit écrit, pendant la nuit en lettres de feu.” _Maillet._
Page 155.—“_Cups of that frail crystal_”—called Alassontes. For their
brittleness _Martial_ is an authority:—
Tolle, puer, calices, tepidique toreumata Nili,
Et mihi securâ pocula trade manu.
Ib.—“_Bracelets of the black beans of Abyssinia._”—The bean of the
Glycyne, which is so beautiful as to be strung into necklaces and
bracelets, is generally known by the name of the black bean of Abyssinia.
_Niebhur._
Ib.—“_Sweet lotus‐wood flute._”—See _M. Villoteau on the musical
instruments of the Egyptians_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account