Volume 1 — FIRST JOURNEY. (continued 4)

At Cairo I found that the consul was gone to Alexandria, but had left with Mr. Beechey, his secretary, instructions and letters for me. 210He requested, that every thing might be landed and lodged in the consulate except the bust. I could not conceive the reason of this distinction, as I thought that all the articles I collected were to go to the British Museum. However, I made no inquiry into the business, and every thing was deposited as desired. The first hour of my arrival I had the pleasure of seeing my good and much lamented friend, Burckhardt, whose death has been a great loss to me. He was the most candid, disinterested, and sincere being I have ever met with; totally free from that invidious and selfish disposition, which is so often to be found in travellers, who wish to be alone in one quarter of the world, to relate their story agreeably to the suggestions of their own imagination to the people of another. But Burckhardt had none of that littleness of mind: he was a true explorer, and a hardy one, without pride, or the ambition to be thought more than he was. He made no parade of his knowledge, as his works plainly evince.

Having prepared for my departure for Alexandria, we left Boolak on the 3d of January, 1817, and arrived in Raschid, or Rosetta, on the 10th. There I had to land the colossus, and embark it again on board a djerm; but as I had now some tackle, of which I was destitute 211before, and proper people to work, I found it quite an easy operation. Besides, I took care to land it in a situation, that was advantageous for embarking it again. Having done so, I set off on board the same djerm, with the bust, and was fortunate enough to reach Alexandria two hours after sunset of the same day, which was the fourth after our arrival in Rosetta. That very day, above two hundred djerms came out of the Nile, some of which had been waiting for an opportunity of passing the bar above eighty days. Mrs. Belzoni went by land, accompanied by the Irish lad, and arrived the next day. I will not mention the kind reception of the consul-general, and the under-consul, Mr. Lee. I was fortunate enough to become acquainted with a gentleman, Mr. Briggs, who received me into his house in the most hospitable manner, and was as much concerned for the success of my affairs as it was possible to be; for he felt the pleasure of a true Englishman, in seeing one of the most finished monuments of Egyptian art ready to be embarked for his native country.

The next and final operation with respect to the bust, on my part, was to land it, and have it conveyed in safety to the Bashaw’s magazine, there to await its embarkation for England. I 212had some difficulty in landing it, as the pier was much higher than the djerm, and the motion of the sea did not permit me to erect any bridge. I was so fortunate as to procure the crew of a British transport, which was there at the time; and with their help, with proper tackle, and a hundred men besides, it was landed safely.

Having finished my operations, and whatever was necessary respecting the head, I proposed to the consul, to make another trip into Upper Egypt and Nubia, to open the temple at Ybsambul. Nothing could be more pleasing to me than to find, that my proposal was accepted; as I thought I might have an opportunity of accomplishing the wishes I had formed, which, to a certain extent, were with particular views; though, as the consul has proved, no interested motives governed my mind. The only stipulation I made was, that, if I were successful, he should give me an official letter of introduction to the Society of Antiquaries, when I should return to England; with which he promised to comply. Thinking, however, I might be indulging hopes that would not be realized, he cautioned me against any expectations from that quarter. I told him, I was not rich; but as I had no other view than to serve the nation 213at large, I intended to make certain proposals to the members of that honourable society. On this he again promised me the letter requested, and in a few days we all set off for Cairo. There the worthy Burckhardt would insist, that I should receive a present, half of which he obtained from the consul, as an acknowledgment for my success with regard to the colossus; of the general expenses attending which he paid a moiety.

It was at this period that Captain Cabillia had ventured into the well of the first pyramid of Gaza. His enterprise was hazardous and bold, and nothing but an enthusiasm for discovery could induce a man to take such a step. The consul, with Mr. Briggs, Mr. Beechey, and myself, went to see the operations that were going on. Captain Cabillia’s circumstances were much better than mine; but he had no superfluous wealth at command, to continue what he had begun, which required a supply beyond his means. Mr. Briggs was the first who generously offered to furnish money for this purpose; and, after a consultation with Mr. Salt, they agreed to support the work to any extent that might be required. This gentleman not only encouraged the undertaking at the pyramid, but has exerted his influence with Mahomed Ali for the 214general advantage of the commerce of Europe, as I shall have occasion to mention hereafter. The enterprise of Captain Cabillia is worthy the attention of every one interested in antiquities, as he has solved a question, by which the learned world has been puzzled for many centuries. The famous well, which has given rise to so much conjecture, turns out to be a communication with a lower passage leading into an inferior chamber, discovered and opened by himself. He first descended the well to the depth of thirty-eight feet, where his progress was stopped by four large stones. Three of these being removed, there was space enough for a man to pass through; but the fourth he could not stir, though he had the help of Mr. Kabitsch, a young man in the employment of Mr. Baghos, who bore a share of the expense with the captain. Twenty-one feet below this place they found a grotto, seventeen feet long and four high; and seven feet below this, a platform, from which the well descended two hundred feet lower. The captain went down, and at the bottom found earth and sand: but from the hollow sound under his feet, he judged, that the passage must communicate with some other apartment below. He then set some Arabs at work, to remove the sand; but the heat was so 215great, and the candles so incapable of burning, for want of oxygen, that they were compelled to desist. The captain then turned his researches to another quarter, and began to enlarge the entrance into the first passage of the pyramid. For this operation he was well rewarded; for by it he found, that the passage continued downward; and having employed several men, and taken out a great deal of earth and rubbish, at last, after a long and arduous toil, he came in contact with the bottom of the well, where he found the baskets and rope which had been left there. The same day that this occurred was that on which we had agreed to visit the pyramids, and I had the pleasure to be an eye-witness of the arduous task of Captain Cabillia. Proceeding in his laborious researches, he found, that the passage led into a chamber cut out of the rock, under the centre of the pyramid.

Captain C. made several researches round the pyramids also, but none exceeded his toil in uncovering the front of the great sphinx. He found a small temple between the two paws, and a large tablet of granite on its breast. The tablet is adorned with several figures and hieroglyphics, and two representations of sphinxes are sculptured on it. Before the entrance into 216the small temple was a lion, placed as if to guard the approach. Farther on from this front of the sphinx is a staircase of thirty-two steps, at the bottom of which is an altar, with a Greek inscription, of the time of the Ptolemies. At each side of the altar was a sphinx of calcareous stone, much mutilated. From the base of the temple to the summit of the head is sixty-five feet: the legs of the sphinx are fifty-seven feet long from the breast to the extremity of the paws, which are eight feet high. Forty-five feet from the first altar, he found another, with an inscription, alluding to the emperor Septimius Severus; and near to the first step was a stone, with another Greek inscription, alluding to Antoninus. Notwithstanding his own occupation about the sphinx, Captain Cabillia employed other people to carry on other researches. He opened some of the mausoleums which were choked up with sand, and found several small chambers, with hieroglyphics and figures, some of them pretty well executed, and in good preservation. In one of the pits he found some mummies, in their linen envelopes, and various fragments of Egyptian antiquity. He also opened some of the smaller pyramids, and from the suggestion of Mr. Briggs to follow a certain direction, he succeeded in finding the entrance into 217one of them: but it appears, that it was so decayed in the interior, he could advance only a few feet in it. No doubt this led into some chamber, or apartment, containing, perhaps, a sarcophagus, &c.

I was then merely a spectator of the works of Captain Cabillia. The consul, Mr. Salt, proposed to me, to enter into the researches in concert with the captain; but as I thought it would not be right to attempt to share the credit of one, who had already exerted himself to the utmost of his power, I declined. Besides, it would have been a poor victory on my part to enter into the field after the battle had been fought, and conquest gained by another. I contented myself, therefore, with hoping for a better opportunity to try my skill, independent of any one. Having got all things ready for my departure, the consul proposed that I should take Mr. Beechey with me up the Nile. Nothing could suit me better than to have a companion in a young gentleman, with the prospect of whose society, from what I had seen of him, I had much reason to be pleased. I was fully satisfied that, after having weaned himself from those indulgences to which he was accustomed, he would make a good traveller; though it is not easy, to one who is not accustomed to an 218arduous life, to pass on a sudden from the accommodation of a comfortable house to that of a rough uneasy boat, and much less to a life that is so irregular. However, Mr. Beechey soon accustomed himself to the change, and in a few months became quite indifferent to the many inconveniences he had to undergo. As to Mrs. Belzoni, I left her at Cairo, in the family of Mr. Cochini, the British chancellor; and when all was ready, we took leave of the consul and Mr. Burckhardt. Alas! I little thought it was the last time I should see my friend; but so it was ordained.

END OF THE FIRST JOURNEY.

219

RESEARCHES AND OPERATIONS

IN

EGYPT, NUBIA, &c.