It was long before we could tear ourselves away from the majestic Sphinx. But at last Mohammed warned us that if we wished to reach Cairo before nightfall, we must no longer delay. We remounted our donkeys. But though we rode at a quick pace, the sun was already setting before we reached our hotel. Our first thought the next day was to find out all we could about the Sphinx. We searched our books of Eastern travel, and from them we found that the Sphinx originally supported a small temple between its paws. The walls consisted of three tablets, the top of one of which yet remains. The middle one was of granite, and represented Thothmes the Fourth making an offering to the Sphinx. He lived about fourteen hundred and ten years before the birth of Christ. The side walls were of limestone. They, too, were sculptured, and represented offerings made by Rameses the Great, He lived in the year thirteen hundred and eleven before the birth of our Lord. There was an inclosure in front of this temple, bounded by a low wall, which stretched from one paw of the Sphinx to the other. The space inclosed between it and the temple was about fifty feet. There was an altar for sacrifice in front of the steps leading to the temple. In front of the wall was a wide paved space, from which two large flights of steps went up to a paved road. This road led to the plain, and had a brick wall on each side to protect it from the sand. The approach must have been very grand. A man coming by it would first be on a level with the breast of the Sphinx, and would have a full view of the altar and temple below. Then, as he went down the roadway, the Sphinx would seem to rise higher and higher, till he must have felt himself quite a pigmy, looking up at the vast figure. The children were, like ourselves, very much interested in these accounts of the Sphinx, which their father had collected for us. "Has any one besides Colonel Howard Vyse tried to clear away the sand?" Hugh asked. "Yes, Mr. Salt and Signor Caviglia excavated the upper portion and all the front of the figure. Colonel Howard Vyse continued what they had begun." CHAPTER VI. THE MOSQUES. This day was to be given to seeing the mosques in Cairo. We set off early, and went first to see the mosque of Sultan Hassan. This is thought to be one of the most beautiful specimens of Arabian architecture in Cairo. It was built in the fourteenth century, and the blocks of stone for it were brought from the Great Pyramid, of which these were the casing-stones. Inside, the mosque was beautiful. Rows of coloured glass lamps hung from the walls; some were especial curiosities, for they were the finest early glass-work of their kind. The arches also are fine, and so are some of the ornaments of the roof.