us, and we hoped, by entering into the water, to escape from its effects. But we had scarcely stepped into the river before its waves were lifted up by the hurricane, dashed over our heads, and carried in an instantaneous inundation over the plain. The bed of the Nile seemed shaken under our feet, and its banks with our garments appeared to have been blown away. We hurried out of the water, the dust fell upon us like rain, we were immediately covered as with a crust. Too much terrified even to put on our garments, we crept along through a reddish, insufficient light, partly guiding our steps by the walls, until at length we found refuge in our lodgings.” Denon, who really possessed all the genuine enthusiasm of a traveller, shortly after this undertook a journey to Cosseir on the Red Sea, where he enjoyed an opportunity of beholding the manners of the Arabs under less disadvantages than in the valley of the Nile. He then returned again to Thebes, where he visited the sepulchres of Gournon, and descending the Nile to the seacoast, embarked with Napoleon on board a frigate, and sailed for France. The ship, fearful of encountering the English, coasted along the shores of Africa, as far as the Gulf of Carthage and Biserta; then, after passing close to Sardinia, and touching at Corsica, arrived safe on the coast of Provence. On his return to France, Napoleon, of whom he was a devoted admirer, and in whose praise he was frequently guilty of adulation, conferred upon him the office of superintendent of museums and the striking of medals. The triumphal column in the Place Vendôme was erected under his direction. On the fall of Napoleon, the king, who was not ignorant of the merits of Denon, continued him in his offices; but as on the reappearance of Napoleon in 1815 he returned to his allegiance to his first sovereign, he naturally sank with him upon his final fall. In his place of superintendent of the medal mint he was succeeded by M. de Puymaurin and by the Comte de Farbin, as director-general of museums. Denon enjoyed the reputation, however, of being the most competent person in Paris for filling the offices of which he had been deprived. Remarking upon those changes, “It would be difficult,” says the Quarterly Review, “to discover on what grounds an old and meritorious servant, who, like Denon, had distinguished himself by his knowledge of antiquities, by his taste and execution in the fine arts, and by his zeal for their promotion among his countrymen, was dismissed to make room for the present Apollo of the Museum, who has not the good fortune to be gifted with science, art, or taste, or even with the semblance of zeal or respect for any of them.” Denon died in 1827, leaving behind him an extensive and well-merited reputation, which is likely long to survive. His travels have been translated into English, and are still highly esteemed. REGINALD HEBER. Born 1783.--Died 1826.