with an Abyssinian merchant, and the sailors, who were to take care of the clothes; for the Arabs had recommended them to strip, which they did in part, keeping on their shirts and trousers, in the latter of which Mr. Legh concealed a brace of pocket pistols, as he by no means liked the manner, and a previous muttering consultation of the Arabs. Each had a torch, and they found their way from the bottom of this hole into a larger chamber, strewed, as the Greek had described, with fragments of crocodile mummies. From this they passed through the windings of a low gallery, and after proceeding for more than an hour, came out into a large apartment, which they recognised as the same from which they had set out. The conductors at first denied this, but, on the travellers persisting, acknowledged that it was, and said they had lost their way; but assured the party of being led to the mummies if they would make another attempt. They next approached a chamber guarded by a trench of unknown depth, and wide enough to require a good leap.

The first Arab jumped the ditch, and we all followed him. The passage we entered was extremely small, and so low in some places as to oblige us to crawl flat on the ground, and almost always on our hands and knees. The intricacies of its windings resembled a labyrinth, and it terminated at length in a chamber much smaller than that we had left, but, like it, containing nothing to satisfy our curiosity. Our search hitherto had been fruitless, but the mummies might not be far distant; another effort and we might succeed.

The Arab whom I followed, and who led the way, now entered another gallery, and we all continued to move in the

same manner as before, each preceded by a guide. We had not gone far before the heat became excessive;—for my own part, I found my breathing extremely difficult, my head began to ache most violently, and I had a distressing sensation of fulness about the heart.

We felt we had gone too far, and yet were almost deprived of the power of returning. At this moment the torch of the first Arab went out; I was close to him, and saw him fall on his side; he uttered a groan-his legs were strongly convulsed, and I heard a rattling noise in his throat-he was dead. The Arab behind me, seeing the torch of his companion extinguished, and conceiving he had stumbled, passed me, advanced to his assistance, and stopped. I observed him appear faint, totter, and fall in a moment-he was also dead. The third Arab came forward, and made an effort to approach the bodies, but stopped short. We looked at each other in silent horror. The danger increased every instant; our torches burnt faintly; our breathing became difficult; our knees tottered, and we felt our strength nearly gone.

There was no time to be lost-the American, Barthow, cried to us to 'take courage,' and we began to move back as fast as we could. We heard the remaining Arabs shouting after us calling us Caffres, imploring our assistance, and upbraiding us with deserting him. But we were obliged to leave him to his fate, expecting every moment to share it with him. The windings of the passages through which we had come increased the difficulty of our escape; we might take a wrong turn, and never reach the great chamber we had first entered. Even supposing we took the shortest

road, it was but too probable our strength would fail us before we arrived. We had each of us separately, and unknown to one another, observed attentively the different shapes of the stones which projected into the galleries we had passed, so that each had an imperfect clue to the labyrinth we had now to retrace. We compared notes, and only on one occasion had a dispute, the American differing from my friend and myself; in this dilemma we were determined by the majority, and fortunately were right. Exhausted with fatigue and terror we had reached the edge of the deep trench, which remained to be crossed before we got into the great chamber. Mustering all my strength, I leaped, and was followed by the American. Smelt stood on the brink ready to drop with fatigue. He called out to us for God's sake to help him over the fosse, or at least to stop, if only for five minutes, to allow him time to recover his strength.' It was impossible: to stay was death, and we could not resist the desire to push on and reach the open air. We encouraged him to summon all his force, and he cleared the trench. When we reached the open air it was one o'clock, and the heat in the sun was very intense. Our sailors, who were waiting for us, had luckily a bardak full of water, which they sprinkled upon us; but though a little refreshed, it was not possible to climb the sides of the pit; they unfolded their turbans, and slinging them round our bodies, drew us to the top.

The state of debility in which they emerged from this den of death, was stimulated to immediate effort by apprehensions of another kind. Not venturing to tell the plain truth

of a fact of which they were aware it would be of little use to attempt to explain the cause to the barbarians of the place, they replied to the inquiries of the astonished Arab who had remained at the mouth of the pit, that his three friends would soon appear, being employed in bringing out the mummies which had been found; and they hastened away to reach their cangia, moored at Manfalout, in order to be gone before there should be time for the rage of the Arabs to be brought upon them by the belief that they had murdered their guides. The stupidity, however, of the master of the vessel detained it many hours from getting it into the stream; and when that was effected, the wind was so contrary that they had proceeded only a few miles when Turks on horseback and Arabs on foot came to the bank, and, within pistol-shot, summoned them, in the name of the cacheff of the town, to answer for the murder. On a stipulation with the Turks for their protection while walking back to the town, and an allowance to carry their arms, they returned, and were received with a shout of revengeful joy by a large assemblage of armed Arabs of Amabdi, waiting at the house of the cacheff; and he himself, notwithstanding their explanation, and the firman of the Pasha of Egypt, affected to treat them in an angry and menacing manner. Retiring, however, and summoning them into a private apartment, he quite changed his tone, admitted the truth of their story, but told them the best service he could render them was to assist them to escape secretly, while he amused their enemies; for that he had no sufficient force to protect them if the numerous armed population of Amabdi should

rise on the occasion. It was so managed, therefore, that they got again on board their boat, which they rowed with all their might; but they were soon again arrested by the appearance of a number of Arabs, who threatened to fire upon them if they did not return. On reaching the town they met among their vociferous assailants, the wives and children of the men who had perished, naked and smeared with mud, according to their accustomed fashion of mourning. Among the crowd at the cacheff's house, they recognised the Arab whom they had left alive, but with no doubt of his inevitable fate, in the cavern. His appearance was most wretched, he was unable to stand, and was supported by two of his friends. This man, on being appealed to, confirmed the charge of murder, and being interrogated as to the mode, said it was by magic. The incredulity excited in some of the auditors, by this allegation, combined with the force of some of the circumstances proved in defence, produced a kind of pause of their indignant violence, of which the culprits availed themselves to demand, with a peremptory air, and with threatening references to the alliance of their king with the despot of Egypt, to be instantly sent, with their accusers, to Ibrahim Bey, the son of that despot, and governor of Upper Egypt, whose reputation for cruelty made his very name terrible to the company. At length, a moderate sum of money was suggested in the way of compromise, to which, after a short affectation of haughtily refusing it, the captives gladly agreed; and they were soon again making the best of their way down the Nile, glad enough that they had escaped the violence of these wild Arabs.