with water. The inhabitants of Badjoura, and the neighbouring haimlets, inter their dead there. The rocks diverge from the eastern shore of the Nile, near the villages of Cafr` and Fau; the first was formerly the town of which Abulfeda gives the following defcription: "Cafr is a day's journey fouth of "Cous, on the eaft fide of the river. The neighbouring country abounds in corn and palm trees. A great number of earthen "veffels are made there, and difperfed over "the rest of Egypt (g)." Since the time of Abulfeda, the town of Cafr has loft the greatest part of its trade and inhabitants, and is now only a village of small impor tance. The western shore of the Nile, better peopled, affords a more fmiling profpect, of date tree groves, doum, difperfed around the houfes, rich plains of wheat, and pafturage covered by flocks. The fmall town of Dendera contains nothing remarkable; but about a league to the west are the remains of the ancient Tentyra. Heaps of rubbish, and (g) Abulfeda, Defcription of Egypt. extenfive extenfive ruins, indicate the grandeur of this city, the inhabitants of which, according to Strabo, worshipped Ifis and Venus (h). Among thefe ruins, on a fmall eminence, are two ancient temples, worthy of admiration. The largest only two hundred feet long, and one hundred and forty in breadth, is furrounded by a double frize. It is divided into feveral lofty apartments, fupported by large columns, which have a fquare ftone for their capital, on which is fculptured the head of Ifis. Hieroglyphics, in compartments, cover the walls. Coloffal figures ftand at the outward angles, and ten flights of fteps lead to the fummit of the temple. fmaller. The second, ftanding on the right, is The cornice, which is carried round it, and the gate, are decorated by falcons, with fpreading wings. A doubled fquare ftone ferves as a capital to columns. which fupport the roof. On the walls, various rows of figures, of men, birds, and animals, are fculptured. Thefe hicrogly (b) Strabo, lib. 17. phics were the hiftory of the times. Could we read them, we should probably know whether these were temples dedicated to Ifis or Venus. The fame folidity may be remarked here as in those of Abydus, but less grandeur and magnificence. Before I conclude my letter, I will quote what Strabo fays concerning the averfion in which the Tentyrites held the crocodile, a reptile revered in many other cities. "The "inhabitants of Tentyra abhor the croco"dile, and wage continual war against him, as the most dangerous of animals. Other men, thinking him the moft pernicious, "avoid him; the Tentyrites, on the con 66 66 trary, eagerly hunt for and kill him, "wherever they can find him. The Pfylli "of Cyrene are known to poffefs a certain power over ferpents, and it is commonly thought the Tentyrites are endowed with "the like virtue over crocodiles. They 66 66 plunge and fwim audaciously into the "middle of the Nile, without receiving "harm. During the fhows exhibited at 86 Rome, feveral crocodiles were put into a bafon, on one fide of which was an open ing Into this ba ing for them to swim out. "fon the Tentyrites threw themselves a66 mong these monsters, took and drew them "forth in a net. After expofing them to "be feen by the Roman people, they once more intrepidly feized and brought them "back (i).” A fact thus attested by a judicious hiftorian, who was himself an eye witnefs, cannot be doubted. Do not the natives of the Caribbe iflands, armed only with a knife, advantageously combat the fhark, one of the moft dreadful of fea monfters? There ftill are found determined men in Egypt, who dare attack the crocodile. They swim towards him, and, as he opens his formidable jaws to fwallow them up, they thrust in a plank of fir, to which a rope is tied. The crocodile, by clofing his jaws forcibly, indents his fharp teeth so far into the wood as to be unable to draw them out; the Egyptian fwims to fhore with his rope; after which feveral men draw on fhore and kill the monster. This is not performed without danger, for should the (i) Strabo, lib. 17. fwimmer |