“‘A small lion, couching in front of this edifice, had its eyes directed towards the main figure. There were besides several fragments of other lions rudely carved, and the fore-part of a sphinx of tolerable workmanship; all of which, as well as the tablets, walls, and platforms on which the little temple stood, were ornamented with red paint, a colour which seems to have been, in Egypt as well as in _India_, appropriated to sacred purposes. In front of the temple was a granite altar, with one of the four projections or horns still retaining its place at the angle. From the effects of fire evident on the stone, it is manifest that it had been used for burnt-offerings. “‘On the side of the left paw of the Great Sphinx were cut several indistinct legends in Greek characters, addressed to different deities.[46] On the second digit of the same was sculptured, in pretty deep letters, an inscription in verse, of which the subjoined translation was given by the late Dr. Young, whose extensive knowledge of antiquities enabled him at once to restore the defects of the original, and to convey its meaning in Latin as well as in English. “‘Thy form stupendous here the gods have placed, Sparing each spot of harvest-bearing land; And with this mighty work of art have graced A rocky isle, encumber’d once with sand: Not that fierce Sphinx that Thebes erewhile laid waste, But great Latona’s servant, mild and bland: Watching that prince beloved who fills the throne Of Egypt’s plains, and calls the Nile his own. That heavenly monarch who his foes defies, Like Vulcan powerful, and like Pallas wise.’ “This remarkable statue is again as much under the dominion of the desert as it was half a century ago; and, consequently, it now meets the eye of the Egyptian traveller shrouded in sand to the same depth as before.