The Government Is Vested In A Very Turbulent Aristocracy, Of About Thirty Chiefs, Who Meet In Council In The Vicinity Of The Town Wall, And In The Contests Which Frequently Arise, Make Violent And Sudden Appeals To Arms.

The chief question in respect to Siwah is, whether it does or does not comprise the site of the

Celebrated shrine of Jupiter Ammon, that object of awful veneration to the nations of antiquity, and which Alexander himself, the greatest of its heroes, underwent excessive toil and peril to visit and to associate with his name. This territory does in fact contain springs, and a small edifice, with walls six feet thick, partly painted and adorned with hieroglyphics. There are also antique tombs in the neighbouring mountains, but as the subsequent discoveries of Belzoni and Edmonstone have proved that all these features exist in other oases, scattered in different directions along the desert borders of Egypt, some uncertainty must perhaps for ever rest on this curious question.

The route now passed through a region still indeed barren, yet not presenting such a monotonous plain of sand as intervenes between Egypt and Siwah. It was bordered by precipitous limestone rocks, often completely filled with shells and marine remains. The caravan, while proceeding along these wild tracts, were alarmed by a tremendous braying of asses, and, on looking back, saw several hundred of the people of Siwah, armed and in full pursuit, mounted on these useful animals. The scouts, however, soon brought an assurance that they came with intentions perfectly peaceable, having merely understood that in the caravan there were two Christians from Cairo, and on their being allowed to kill them, the others would be permitted to proceed without molestation. All Horneman's address and firmness were required in this fearful crisis. He opposed the most resolute denial to the assertions of the Siwahans, he opened the Koran, and displayed the facility with which he could read its pages. He even challenged his adversaries to answer him on points of mahommedan faith. His companions in the caravan, who took a pride in defending one of their members, insisted that he had cleared himself thoroughly from the imputation of being an infidel, and as they were joined by several of the Siwahans, the whole body finally renounced their bloody purpose, and returned home.

The travellers next passed through Angila, a town so ancient as to be mentioned by Herodotus, but now small, dirty, and supported solely by the passage of the inland trade. They then entered the Black Harutsch, a long range of dreary mountains, the mons ater of the ancients, through the successive defiles of which they found only a narrow track enclosed by rugged steeps, and obstructed by loose stones. Every valley too and ravine into which they looked, appeared still more wild and desolate than the road itself. A scene of a more gay and animated description succeeded, when they entered the district of Limestone Mountains, called the White Harutsch. The rocks and stones here appeared as if glazed, and abounded in shells and other marine petrifactions, which on being broken had a vitrified appearance.

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