"The future of Egypt, my prince, no man can foresee. But the sacred books contain a prophecy, that during one cycle of a soul, three thousand years, she will be a nation despised and ruled by kings of another race, and all that will remain to her will be her defaced pyramids and temples; the marvel of which will bring strangers from the ends of the earth, curious to gaze upon these mute witnesses of her ancient power and glory." "The gods forbid!" I said warmly. "The gods," he answered, "govern the earth, and do what they will with its kingdoms. These sacred papyri also speak of Tyre and prophesy its desolation, and say that the empire of commerce shall be removed to an unknown world beyond the great sea of the West, and that a race yet unborn shall sway the destinies of the earth, and another religion shall prevail in the hearts of men." "What are these papyri?" I asked. "Books which have been handed down from the first kings, who in their turn received them from the ancient gods." I turned away sorrowfully at the thought of this prediction, my dear mother. The idea that Tyre, which now sits a queen upon the shores of her sea, will ever be desolate, is not possible for me to conceive. May her prosperity and peace be prolonged to the ends of the ages! We now turned to descend this elevation, from whence the heart of Egypt lay open before us. The sight of the sheer eight hundred feet along the inclined side of the pyramid was fearful. The projections which were to receive our feet were not apparent; and we commenced the descent with the greatest caution, being obliged to lower ourselves from block to block; and where the encasement of tiles remained, we were sustained by the iron heads of short spears with which each of us was provided, a hook being secured at the opposite end. At length we reached the broad terrace which surrounds the pyramid, and upon which are statues and small sphinxes facing outward. Between two of large size, representing Osiris and Isis, we descended a broad flight of steps to an ancient gate, which, as I was told, led to the entrance of the pyramid. The passage, however, has not been opened for many centuries--the piety of the Pharaohs permitting the mighty dead to rest in their granite tumuli undisturbed by curiosity or cupidity. When we had crossed the court, the priest ascended with me one of the towers of the pylon. From thence he showed me a mass of rock lying in a position which answered, in reference to the main pyramid, to that which the sphinx occupied.