BELZONI.
This able and interesting traveller, descended from a respectable Roman family, was born at Padua, whither his relations had many years previously removed. Being designed by his parents for some monastic order, he was at a very early age sent to Rome, the original abode of his ancestors, where he received his education, and spent the greater part of his youth. Here the sciences would appear to have obtained a decided preference in his mind, over every other branch of study; particularly hydraulics, to which he owed the reputation which he afterward acquired in the world, and a success which was by no means equal to his deserts. The invasion of Italy, and the capture of Rome by the French, disturbed the peaceful but insignificant plan of life which he had traced out for himself. Instead of a monk he became a traveller. Departing from Rome in the year 1800, he for some time wandered about the Continent, deriving his subsistence, as he himself observes, from his own knowledge and industry, and occasional remittances from his family, who, though by no means wealthy, seem to have been generously disposed to afford him a support, which he, in a short time, no less generously refused to accept.
In the year 1803 he arrived in England, where he not long afterward married. In this country he supported himself, as is well known, by performing in public feats of prodigious strength, and by scientific exhibitions; still, with a manly independence, preferring the gaining of a precarious subsistence by these means to the idea of draining the slender resources of his family, or of resorting to those moreeasy but less reputable sources of gain which too frequently employ the talents of foreigners in England. Having remained nine years in Great Britain, Belzoni conceived the desire of visiting the south of Europe; and, taking his wife along with him, travelled through Portugal, Spain, and Malta. It seems to have been during this part of his travels that he learned, from what he considered unexceptionable authority, that his scientific knowledge might be turned to good account in Egypt, where an hydraulic machine would be of the greatest utility in irrigating the fields, which want water only to make them produce at any season of the year.
He accordingly took his passage on board of some ship bound for Egypt, and arrived in the harbour of Alexandria on the 9th of June, 1815. The plague, he was informed, was now in the city, but gradually decreasing in malignity. St. John’s day, the 24th of June, was likewise at hand, on which it usually ceases entirely, through the interference, as the vulgar believe, of the saint, but in reality from the intense heat of the sun, which has by that time exhaled those damp miasmata which are the immediate cause of the plague. Belzoni, who was accompanied by his wife and a young Irish lad, named Curtain, landed, notwithstanding the disease; and having remained secluded in the occale, or khun, until after the 24th, set off for Cairo. On reaching this city, where he meant to make an offer of his services to the pasha, to whose principal interpreter he brought letters of recommendation, he obtained lodgings in an old house, which from its vast size and ruinous condition would have made a handsome figure in one of Mrs. Ratcliffe’s romances. Though antiquities, as he observes, were not at that time his object, he could not refrain from visiting the Pyramids. He accordingly accompanied an English gentleman to the spot, where they passed the night, and long before dawn had ascended the summit ofthe highest pile, to behold the sun rise over the land of Egypt.
“The scene here,” says he, “is majestic and grand far beyond description: a mist over the plains of Egypt formed a veil, which ascended and vanished gradually as the sun rose, and unveiled to the view that beautiful land, once the site of Memphis. The distant view of the smaller pyramids on the south marked the extension of that vast capital; while the solemn endless spectacle of the desert, on the west, inspired us with reverence for the all-powerful Creator. The fertile lands on the north, with the serpentine course of the Nile, descending towards the sea; the rich appearance of Cairo, and its minarets, at the foot of the Mokatam mountain, on the east; the beautiful plain which extends from the Pyramids to that city; the Nile, which flows magnificently through the centre of the Sacred Valley; and the thick groves of palm-trees under our eyes, altogether formed a scene of which a very imperfect idea can be given by the most elaborate description.”
A few days after his return to Cairo he was to have been presented to the pasha, but on the way to the citadel was attacked and wounded by a Turkish soldier in such a manner that he was compelled to defer his presentation for thirty days. Mohammed Ali had not at that time properly established his power; for, when informed of the injury which had been inflicted on his guest, he only observed that such accidents were not to be prevented in cities filled with troops. This point was very soon made still clearer. In a few days the soldiers burst out into open rebellion, pillaged the inhabitants, committed every description of atrocity, and pursued his highness himself into his castle, where they for some time held him besieged. When this storm had blown over, Belzoni, whose hydraulic project was highly approved of by the pasha, commenced the construction of his machine in his highness’s gardensat Soubra, three miles from Cairo. As Mohammed Ali is not bigotedly attached to oriental fashions, he freely permitted Belzoni to be witness of his amusements, which he was sometimes even called upon to multiply. During his stay at Soubra business frequently required his presence at Cairo, where, on one occasion, he narrowly escaped being shot by a Turkish soldier. The ruffian having struck him in the street, he returned the blow; upon which the Turk drew his pistol, fired at him, singed his hair, and killed one of his comrades who happened to be standing behind the traveller. The man was next day apprehended by the pasha, and never more heard of. When the hydraulic machine was completed, its power was made trial of in the presence of Mohammed, who, perceiving that as an innovation it was regarded with extraordinary dislike by the Turkish and Arabic cultivators, abandoned the project altogether, without even remunerating the traveller for the loss of time and money which he had incurred.
Notwithstanding these circumstances, which reflect but little honour on Mohammed Ali, Belzoni found, upon calculation, that his finances would still enable him to ascend the Nile as far as Assouan; and was about to proceed up the country when Burckhardt and Mr. Salt, who had previously discussed the point together, determined upon the removal of the colossal head of young Memnon to England, for the purpose of being presented to the British Museum; and requested our traveller, as one of the fittest persons that could be thought of, to undertake the task. The expenses Burckhardt and Mr. Salt were to defray between them. A report was, it seems, circulated even during the lifetime of Belzoni, and previous to the publication of his travels, that in this affair he was merely the paid agent of Mr. Salt (for, as a professed Mohammedan, Burckhardt did not choose to appear). This, however, wasclearly not the case. The expenses incurred in the undertaking they could do no other than defray. Mr. Salt’s instructions are written, as Belzoni himself observes, in an assuming style, but nevertheless have not the air of being addressed to a paid agent. But the testimony of Sheïkh Burckhardt, which I insert in justice to the memory of an enterprising and worthy man, completely sets the matter at rest. In a letter addressed to the African Association, dated Cairo, February 20th, 1817, he says, “You will be pleased to hear that the colossal head from Thebes has at last, after many difficulties, safely arrived at Alexandria. Mr. Belzoni, who offered himself to undertake this commission, has executed it with great spirit, intelligence, and perseverance. The head is waiting now at Alexandria for a proper conveyance to Malta. Mr. Salt and myself have borne the expenses jointly; and the trouble of the undertaking has devolved upon Mr. Belzoni, whose name I wish to be mentioned, if ever ours shall, on this occasion, because he was actuated by public spirit fully as much as ourselves.”
Few things are more interesting in themselves, or less captivating in description, than a search after antiquities. Belzoni, after visiting Hermontis and Dendara, arrived at Thebes, which, from the time of Germanicus to the present moment, has excited the wonder and admiration of every traveller who has beheld it. “It is absolutely impossible,” says Belzoni, “to imagine the scene displayed, without seeing it. The most sublime ideas that can be formed from the most magnificent specimens of our present architecture would give a very incorrect picture of these ruins; for such is the difference, not only in magnitude, but in form, proportion, and construction, that even the pencil can convey but a faint idea of the whole. It appeared to me like entering a city of giants, who, after a long conflict, were all destroyed, leaving the ruins of their various temples as the only proof of their existence.”
After a brief examination of these mighty ruins, he crossed to the western bank of the Nile, where, amid the vast remains of the Memnonium, was the colossal head which he was to remove. He found it, he says, near the remains of its body and chair, with its face upwards, and apparently smiling on him at the thought of being taken to England. The implements which he had brought from Cairo were sufficiently simple: fourteen poles, eight of which were employed in making a sort of car to lay the bust on, four ropes of palm-leaves, and four rollers, without tackle of any sort. Their boat lying too far to be used as a lodging every night, they established themselves in the Memnonium, where, as the traveller remarks, they were handsomely lodged in a small hut formed of stones. Mrs. Belzoni seems, in fact, to have been as enterprising and romantic as her husband, and made no difficulty about the rudeness of their accommodation. Into a detail of his laborious exertions, or those of the Arabs in conveying the head to the Nile, I do not think it necessary to enter. It will be sufficient to state, that after incredible toil and perseverance, it was at length brought to the edge of the stream on the 12th of August, 1816.
This object being effected, he made an excursion to the sepulchral excavations in the mountain of Gornou, celebrated for the quantity of mummies which they contain. Into this vast labyrinth he entered with two Arabs and his interpreter. They were in search of a sarcophagus which was said to have been discovered by Drovetti; but, in roaming about amid the dreary passages, lost their way, which, without extraordinary good fortune, might have been the first step to losing their lives. In labouring to find a passage out, they came to a small aperture, through which the interpreter and one of the Arabs passed easily, but Belzoni, who was a very large man, found it too small. “One of theArabs, however, succeeded, as did my interpreter; and it was then agreed,” says he, “that I and the other Arab should wait till their return. They proceeded evidently to a great distance, for the light disappeared, and only a murmuring sound from their voices could be distinguished as they went on. After a few moments I heard a loud noise, and the interpreter distinctly crying, ‘O mon Dieu! O mon Dieu! je suis perdu!’ after which a profound silence ensued. I asked my Arab whether he had ever been in that place. He replied, ‘Never.’ I could not conceive what could have happened, and thought the best plan was to return to procure help from the other Arabs. Accordingly, I told my man to show me the way out again; but, staring at me like an idiot, he said he did not know the road. I called repeatedly to the interpreter, but received no answer. I watched a long time, but no one returned, and my situation was no very pleasant one.”
At length, however, by dint of laborious perseverance, they issued into upper air; and as the sarcophagus, which they had discovered, could not at that moment be removed, our traveller conceived the design of making a small excursion into Nubia. Accordingly, he proceeded up the river to Assouan, where, after much altercation, he procured a fresh boat to carry him to the second cataract. He admired, in passing, the beautiful island of Phile, rich in the ruins of antiquity. On the next day several natives, armed with spears and shields of crocodile skins, came in boats to attack them on the river; but observing them, Mrs. Belzoni and all, to be armed with pistols, they very prudently retired. At Deir, the capital of Lower Nubia, our traveller purchased with a small looking-glass permission to continue his voyage. Previous to this, many of the people of the country had never enjoyed the gratification of contemplating the reflection of their own countenances, unless, like Polypheme, they made amirror of the glassy stream. On arriving at Ipsambul, he saw with amazement the great rock-temple discovered by Burckhardt. He immediately conceived the design of clearing away the sand which obstructed the entrance into the temple, and made the proposal to the villagers, promising, in order to excite them to the task, a present in money; but soon found that he had at length arrived in a region where money had ceased to be omnipotent. The people stared at his piasters as they would have stared at a letter in an unknown language, and inquired who would give them any thing for such small bits of metal as those? However, he by degrees succeeded in convincing them that money possessed over civilized men, and all who came within their influence, a mysterious power which they could not resist, and thus awakened in their souls the “accursed thirst of gold.” This seemed at first to produce a good effect; but the love of money once excited, they knew not where to stop; and their avarice, which he had reckoned his best ally, soon exhausted his means, so that before he had half-completed his undertaking he was compelled to desist, and continue his voyage up the Nile to Ibrim and the first cataract.
Having gratified his curiosity with a glance at these celebrated spots, Belzoni returned to Assouan, and from thence proceeded to Thebes, where he immediately put in train the measures necessary for conveying down the river the Memnon’s head, and various other antiquities. The obstacles which were thrown in his way by the obstinacy of the natives, and the intrigues of Drovetti, and other collectors of antiquities, were numerous, and highly disgraceful to their originators. Nevertheless, on the 17th of November, 1816, he succeeded in placing the head on board of a boat, in which he set sail on the 21st for Cairo, where he arrived on the 15th of December, after a voyage of twenty-four days. Allprofessions reckon among their members many knaves and many fools; but the antiquarians with whom Belzoni came in contact deserved, in several instances, to be sent to the galleys. His labours were, as a matter of course, depreciated by several foreigners of this cast, who absurdly misrepresented his researches. In this number must be reckoned Count Forbin, who was frightened away from Thebes by beholding the apparition of an English waiting-maid in a blue pelisse among the ruins. This gentleman, in his absurd “Travels,” represents our traveller as having employed six months in placing the colossal bust on board the boat, although he knew, or should have known, that the operation did not occupy a sixth part of that time. The origin of this contemptible fiction was the jealousy which the idea of seeing this extraordinary piece of antiquity in the possession of the English inspired. An able writer in the Quarterly Review, after animadverting in a very spirited manner upon the meanness of these proceedings, observes, “But detraction, it would appear, is not all that Mr. Belzoni has had to sustain from this irrational jealousy. M. Drovetti, French consul, has, as Count Forbin observes, two agents at Thebes,—the one a Mameluke, named Yousuf, originally a drummer in the French army; the other a Marseillese renegade of the name of Riffo, ‘small in stature, bold, enterprising, and choleric; beating the Arabs because they had neither time nor taste to understand the Provençal language.’ These persons are more than suspected of being concerned in a plot against the life of Mr. Belzoni, who was recently fired at from behind a wall, while employed in his researches among the ruins of Carnac, where these two fellows were then known to be lurking. The affair has been brought before the Consular Court at Cairo; and we trust that M. Drovetti, for the sake of his own character and that of his country, will not interfere with the judicial proceedings,nor attempt to shelter his agents from the punishment which awaits them.”
From Cairo Belzoni proceeded with the bust down the Nile to Rosetta and Alexandria; from whence, after having placed his charge in the pasha’s warehouses, he quickly returned, for the purpose of proceeding on a second voyage up the Nile. It was on this occasion that he had the good fortune to become known to Mr. Briggs, with whom he returned to Cairo. Captain Caviglia had at this period commenced his researches in the interior of the first pyramid of Ghizeh; but was about to discontinue them for lack of means, when Mr. Briggs munificently engaged to furnish funds for the purpose, in which he was seconded by Mr. Salt. It was proposed by this latter gentleman that Belzoni should join Captain Caviglia in his researches; but our traveller, with commendable ambition, preferred some undertaking in which all the credit should redound to himself; and, having left his wife at the house of a friend at Cairo, he once more ascended the Nile, accompanied by Mr. Beechey, to whom he had been introduced at Alexandria.
At Eraramoun, near Ashmouneir, Belzoni obtained intelligence that two agents of M. Drovetti were hurrying on towards Thebes, in the hope of forestalling him in the purchase of antiquities; upon which he hired two asses, and, leaving Mr. Beechey to come up slowly with the boat, hurried off by night. On reaching the ruins, after an incredibly fatiguing journey of five days, he found that, although the agents were not arrived, Mr. Salt’s neglect, in not paving the way with a handsome present, had so completely irritated the bey, that he had appropriated to the French ex-consul the very ground upon which Belzoni had commenced his excavations during his first journey. Into the details of these wretched squabbles, which it is humiliating to the lovers of art even to peruse, I shall of course not enter. Belzoni,it should be observed, was forced into them much against his feelings; for he was an educated, liberal, and high-minded man, altogether averse from low caballing and intrigue, which appear to have formed the native element of Drovetti and his congenial coadjutor, the Count de Forbin.
The most interesting transaction, perhaps, in which our traveller was anywhere engaged, was his visit to the Necropolis of Thebes, in the mountain of Gournou. This is a tract of about two miles in length, at the foot of the Libyan ridge. Every part of these rocks is scooped out into a sepulchre, which, however close it may be to other sepulchral chambers, has rarely any interior communication with them. It is impossible, as Belzoni observes, to convey by description an adequate idea of these subterraneous abodes and their inhabitants. No other sepulchres in the world resemble them. There are no excavations or mines that can be compared with those astonishing places, which, when once seen, for ever after haunt the imagination, like a glimpse of the regions beyond the grave. Few travellers see more of these catacombs than the exterior chambers, from which the dead have been removed. In the interior sepulchres the air is suffocating, and frequently causes fainting. The dust of decayed mummies, which is so fine that it quickly penetrates in vast quantities to the lungs, and causes a difficulty of respiration; the strong effluvia of decomposed bodies; the dark, dismal, lonesome nature of the place;—every thing tends to discourage the intruder. Belzoni was not, however, to be deterred. In describing the difficulties which he here encountered, he observes, “In some places there is not more than the vacancy of a foot left, which you must contrive to pass through in a creeping posture, like a snail, on pointed and keen stones that cut like glass. After getting through these passages, some of them two or three hundred yards long, you generally find amore commodious place, perhaps high enough to sit. But what a place of rest! surrounded by bodies, by heaps of mummies, in all directions, which, previous to my being accustomed to the sight, impressed me with horror. The blackness of the wall; the faint light given by the candles or torches for want of air; the different objects that surrounded me seeming to converse with each other; and the Arabs with the candles or torches in their hands, naked and covered with dust, themselves resembling living mummies,—absolutely formed a scene that cannot be described. In such a situation I found myself several times, and often returned exhausted and fainting, till at last I became inured to it, and indifferent to what I suffered except from the dust, which never failed to choke my throat and nose; and though fortunately I am destitute of the sense of smelling, I could taste that the mummies were rather unpleasant to swallow. After the exertion of entering into such a place, through a passage of fifty, a hundred, three hundred, or perhaps six hundred yards, nearly overcome, I sought a resting-place, found one, and contrived to sit; but when my weight bore on the body of an Egyptian, it crushed it like a bandbox. I naturally had recourse to my hands to sustain my weight, but they found no better support; so that I sank altogether among the broken mummies, with a crash of bones, rags, and wooden cases, which raised such a dust as kept me motionless for a quarter of an hour, waiting till it subsided again. I could not move from the place, however, without increasing it, and every step I took crushed a mummy in some part or other. Once I was conducted from such a place to another resembling it, through a passage of about twenty feet in length, and no wider than that the body could be forced through. It was choked with mummies, and I could not pass without putting my face in contact with that of some decayed Egyptian; but as the passage inclined downwards, myown weight helped me on. However, I could not help being covered with bones, legs, arms, and heads, rolling from above. Thus I proceeded from one cave to another, all full of mummies, piled up in various ways, some standing, some lying, and some on their heads. The purpose of my researches was to rob the Egyptians of their papyri, of which I found a few hidden in their breasts, under their arms, and in the space above the knees, or on the legs, and covered by the numerous folds of cloth that envelop the mummy.”
Belzoni continued indefatigably making new researches both at Gournou and Carnac, but was at length put to flight by the machinations of the French, who had succeeded in gaining over to their party the bey of the province. He then resolved once more to ascend the Nile to Ipsambul, and was fortunate enough to meet with two English travellers, Captains Irby and Mangles, who were desirous of performing the same voyage. They hired a boat between them at Philo, where they celebrated the birth-day of George the Third, and setting out together in high spirits, visited the second cataract, and then returned to Ipsambul. Here the wrong-headedness and quarrelsome disposition of the Nubians considerably obstructed their labours in clearing away the entrance to the temple. But at length, having dismissed the native labourers, and undertaken the task themselves, they succeeded, and enjoyed the satisfaction of beholding one of the most perfect and beautiful rock-temples in the world.
Having completed this laborious operation, our traveller returned to his old station at Thebes, where he continued his researches in the valley of Beban el Malook. Here, among other remarkable antiquities, he discovered one relic of the ancient world, which certainly appears to rank among the most beautiful that have ever been exhumed. “It is,” says he, “a sarcophagus of the finest orientalalabaster, nine feet five inches long, and three feet seven inches wide. Its thickness is only two inches, and it is transparent when a light is placed inside it. It is minutely sculptured within and without with several hundred figures which do not exceed two inches in height, and represent, as I suppose, the whole of the funeral procession and ceremonies relating to the deceased, united with several emblems, &c. I cannot give an adequate idea of this beautiful and invaluable piece of antiquity, and can only say, that nothing has been brought into Europe from Egypt that can be compared to it. The cover was not there; it had been taken out and broken into several pieces.”
Of the tomb in which this extraordinary monument was found a model was many years afterward exhibited in London, and so exceedingly well executed was the representation, that had it not been for the crowds of visiters, one might easily have imagined one’s self in the sepulchres of the Egyptian kings. Belzoni wanted but one thing to render him one of the greatest antiquarian collectors in the world: this one thing was money. But for the lack of this, many of his most arduous and well-planned enterprises came to nothing.
From Thebes, with which he was now as familiar as he was with London, he some time after this proceeded to Cairo. He had by this time acquired quite a passion for excavations, tomb-opening, and all those other pursuits by which travellers aim at diving into the mysteries of Egyptian manners and arts; and reflecting upon the success of Captain Caviglia in descending into the well of the Great Pyramid, the project of attempting the opening of the second occurred to him. It were beside my purpose to describe the difficulties which he encountered and overcame in the execution of this design. His labours were incessant; his expenses considerable; but, at length, after success had frequentlyappeared hopeless, the entrance to the interior chambers was found. “After thirty days’ exertion,” says he, “I had the pleasure of finding myself in the way to the central chamber of one of the two great pyramids of Egypt, which have long been the admiration of beholders!”
This object having been happily effected, Belzoni again set out for Thebes. There he was made acquainted with the history of a pretended discovery, which became a motive for a journey to the coast of the Red Sea. The history of this expedition is given in a very few words by a writer in the Quarterly Review whom I have already cited. “A French mineralogist, of the name of Caillaud, had accompanied some Arab soldiers sent by the pasha of Egypt in search of emeralds among the mountains between the Nile and the Red Sea. On their return, this person gave out (as we learn from an intelligent correspondent in the Malta Gazette) that in this expedition he had discovered the ancient city of the Ptolemies, the celebrated Bernicé, the great emporium of Europe and the Indies, of which he gave a magnificent description. Mr. Belzoni, doubtful of the accuracy of the story, set out from Edfoo, with one of the former party, to visit the supposed Bernicé; where, instead of the ruins of 800 houses and three temples, as stated by M. Caillaud, he could find no more than eighty-seven scattered houses, or rather cells; the greater number of which did not exceedten feet square, built with unhewn stones, and without cement; and the only appearance of a temple was a niche in a rock, without inscription or sculpture of any kind; there was no land for cultivation, nor any water within twenty-four miles; no communication with the sea but by a rough road over the mountains of twenty-four miles; and the shore was so covered with projecting rocks for twenty or thirty miles on each side, that there was no security even for the smallest boats, much lessfor ships trading to India. These, therefore, he was quite certain, could not be the remains of Bernicé.
As, however, the site of this celebrated city had been fully described by the ancient writers, Mr. Belzoni determined to prosecute his researches; and at the end of twenty days he discovered, close to the shore, the extensive ruins of an ancient city near the Cape Lepte Extrema, the Ras el Auf of the present day; the projection of which forms an ample bay (now named Foul Bay), having at the bottom an excellent harbour for vessels of small burden. These ruins, which are beyond dispute those of the celebrated emporium founded by Ptolemy Philadelphus, were four days’ journey from the rude cells of the quarrymen or miners, which M. Caillaud is stated to have so strangely mistaken for the magnificent vestiges of the ancient Bernicé. Several wells of bitter water were found among the ruins; and between them and the mountains was an extensive plain fit for cultivation. The remains of more than 3000 houses were counted, about the centre of which were those of a temple with sculptured figures and hieroglyphics.”
Having made this discovery, he again returned to the valley of the Nile, where he was for some time occupied in the removal of various antiquities. He then descended to the seacoast, and on the 20th of April, 1819, set out from Rosetta, on an excursion to the district of Fayoum, and the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon. After roaming about the shores of Lake Mœris for some time, for he had no leisure for making researches, he visited the ruins of Arconde, consisting of a few granite columns and fragments and mounds of burnt bricks. He then prepared to cross the desert to the Oasis, which was an affair of some difficulty. Nevertheless, he at length succeeded in completing his preparations, and commenced his journey, accompanied by a Bedouin guide, and three or four other persons. Even here,in the desert, ruins of Egyptian edifices, beautifully sculptured with hieroglyphics, were found. The scene at first lay among low rocks, sandy hills, and barren valleys, which were gradually exchanged for a plain of sand, as level as the sea, and thickly strewed with brown and black pebbles. They continued during five days their journey over this dreary waste, at the end of which time they perceived the rocks of the Oasis, and beheld two crows coming, as it were, to meet them. In the afternoon they entered the valley, which is surrounded by high rocks, and forms in the midst a spacious plain, about twelve or fourteen miles long, and about six in breadth. “There is only a very small portion of the valley cultivated on the opposite side to that which we reached, and it can only be distinguished by the woods of palm-trees which cover it. The rest of the valley is wholly covered with tracts of sand, but it is evidently seen it has once been cultivated everywhere. Many tracts of land are of a clayey substance, which could be brought into use even now. There are several small hills scattered about, some with a natural spring at the top, and covered with rushes and small plants. We advanced towards a forest of date-trees, and before evening we reached within a mile of a village named Zaboo, all of us exceedingly thirsty: here we observed some cultivation, several beds of rice and some sunt-trees, &c. Before the camels arrived, they scented the water at a distance; and as they had not drank since they left Rejan, they set off at full gallop, and did not stop till they reached a rivulet, which was quite sweet, although the soil was almost impregnated with salt. I observed here a great many wild birds, particularly wild ducks, in greater abundance than any other.”
The first man who perceived them after their entrance into the valley evinced a disposition to shoot Belzoni; but, upon the explanation of the Bedouinguide, consented to conduct them to the village. “We advanced,” says our traveller, “and entered a lane between these plants; and as we penetrated farther, we entered a most beautiful place, full of dates, intermixed with other trees, some in blossom and others in fruit: these were apricots, figs, almonds, plums, and some grapes. The apricots were in greater abundance than the rest, and the figs were very fine. The soil was covered with verdure of grass and rice, and the whole formed a most pleasing recess, particularly after the barren scenes of the desert.”
His reception at this village was equivocal: there being several sheïkhs, each of whom made pretensions to authority. Some were disposed to treat him kindly, while others, more morose, kept at a distance; but a few cups of coffee, judiciously distributed, and followed by a sheep boiled in rice, reconciled the whole; although they next morning, when they were again hungry, relapsed into their former rude manners. Like all other ignorant people, they supposed that he must necessarily be in search of treasure, and for some time refused to conduct him to the ruins of which he was in search; but upon being assured that whatever treasures might be discovered should fall to their share, while all he stipulated for were a few stones, they consented to accompany him. The ruins, which, with much probability, he concluded to be those of the temple of Jupiter Ammon, now served, he found, as a basement for nearly a whole village, in the vicinity of which he discovered the famous “Fountain of the Sun,” which is warm at midnight and cold at noon. This is a well of sixty feet deep by eight square, which, overflowing in a considerable rivulet, serves to irrigate some cultivated lands. All around it is a grove of palm and other trees. The temperature of the water, however, continues at all times the same; all its apparent changes being accounted forby the greater or less degree of heat in the atmosphere.
From this excursion Belzoni returned to Egypt, from whence he embarked for Europe about the middle of September, 1819. After an absence of twenty years he returned to his family; whence he departed for England, where he completed and published his travels. A few years afterward this enterprising and able traveller fell in an attempt to penetrate into the interior of Africa.