A great many nations, different and distant from one another, were formerly comprehended under the denomination of Ethiopian. In ancient times the natural history of man was but little cultivated. Nations were distinguished according to the most obvious difference in their appearance, namely, their colour; and all who presented the most striking contrast to Europeans, either by a very dark or completely black skin, received the appellation of Ethiopians. Hence we find Ethiopian nations scattered over a considerable part of the ancient world; and although Africa certainly contained the greatest number of these, yet they were by no means confined

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Universal History, vol. vii. part 2d, p. 160. London, 1744, fol. Ethiopian to that continent alone. A considerable tract of Asia was occupied by an Ethiopian race; and as India was often made to comprehend southern Africa, so, in like manner, Ethiopia was made to include southern India. But it is of importance that the extent of these nations, and the various seats occupied by them, should be more accurately defined.

Anciently the native tribes of Africa were divided into two distinct classes; the Libyans and the Ethiopians. "Four nations," says Herodotus, "occupy Africa, and no more; two of which are aboriginal, and two not. The Libyans and Ethiopians are aboriginal, the former being situated northward, and the latter southward in Libya; the foreign settlers are Phoenicians and Greeks." This division was exactly followed by succeeding writers. Under the name of Libyans the father of history comprehended all the nations inhabiting northern Africa, exclusive of the Carthaginians and Greeks, the separate tribes which extended as far as the Lesser Syrtis, and the nomadic tribes of north-western Africa. But the question as to who these nations were, and whether any of their descendants may now be discovered, cannot be answered without difficulty, owing to the changes which the migratory invasions of the Arabs have produced in northern Africa. The narratives of modern travellers, however, have made us acquainted with two nations altogether different from the Arabs and negroes; we mean the Tibboos and the Tuaricks. They dwell to the south and west of Fezzan, their territory being bounded on the south-east by Bornoou, on the south by Nigritia, and on the west by Fez and Morocco; they are divided into many tribes, all speaking the same language, which is different from the Arabic; their lineaments have nothing of the negro character or contour; and their colour, which seems to vary in tint according to their place of abode and mode of life, is of almost every shade and hue between white and black. The Tuaricks, in particular, are described as a very fine race of men; tall, straight, and handsome, with an air of independence. They are generally white, though in their complexion considerably tanned by the climate, and their arms and bodies are as fair as those of many Europeans. Their language is the Berber, or original African tongue; they inhabit the immense tract denominated the Sahara or Great Desert; they are of numerous tribes, some of whom wander like the Arabs; and they subsist chiefly by plunder. The Tuaricks travel on the maherri or dromedary, by means of which they perform long journeys in an incredibly short space of time; and many of their tribes are at perpetual war with the Soudan states, from which they carry off great numbers of slaves, the principal article of their trade. The nearest place of this people is about ten days' journey to the south of Mourzouk.

The Tibboos are in every respect a different people from the Tuaricks. Their colour is of the brightest black, but their profile has nothing of the negro character; they have aquiline noses, fine teeth, and lips formed like those of Europeans; in civilization they are below the Tuaricks, living partly in caves and partly in villages situated upon barren rocks or hills; and they follow the slave trade, but do not trade to Soudan. From a comparison of the Tuaricks and Tibboos, Heeren has been led to conjecture that the former spread from north to south, and the latter from south to north. But it is nearly as difficult to draw an accurate line of demarcation between these tribes and those of the negro race, as between the ancient Libyans and Ethiopians. It is no doubt true that the southern boundaries of the Great Desert may in general be taken as the limits of the negro countries; but, on the other hand, it is certain that separate black tribes, whether completely negro or not, have both in ancient and modern times penetrated a considerable way into the Sahara or Great Desert.

From Lyon's map we learn that at present the black population commences about the twenty-eighth degree of north latitude. The circumstance mentioned by Herodotus, of the Ethiopians having been hunted by the Garamantes in four-horse chariots, and the detached tribes of this people which dwelt along the Atlantic coast almost as far as Cercus, show that this was also the case in early times; and from the narratives of modern travellers we collect that, in the Tibesti Mountains, the same territory where the Garamantes hunted the Ethiopians, black tribes are still to be found. If, then, the numerous interminglings of these tribes which must necessarily have taken place in a long course of ages, and the circumstances which, in a country like Africa, are continually occurring to produce changes and migrations, together with the ordinary operation of physical laws, be all duly considered, the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of drawing an accurate boundary line between the Libyans and Ethiopians, will easily be perceived.

So much for the western nations of northern Africa. With regard to the eastern, the inhabitants of the banks of the Nile above Egypt, and of the adjacent countries as far as the Arabian Gulf; as their country in general is comprehended under the name of Ethiopia, the denomination has been transferred to its inhabitants, who have received the name of Ethiopians, not by reason of their descent, but simply because their complexion happens to be dark. Herodotus classes the Ethiopians according to the growth of their hair, and particularly distinguishes the negroes from the other swarthy tribes. "The Asiatic Ethiopians," says he, "have straight hair; whilst the African Ethiopians have the most curly hair of all men." But, as we have already seen, he is mistaken in speaking thus of all the black tribes of Africa, some of whom are not negroes, and, notwithstanding the black hue of their skins, have straight hair. He judged according to what he saw of them in Upper Egypt, the most southern point of his travels; but, from not having penetrated farther into the interior of the African continent, he judged erroneously. We are, however, indebted to him for one important piece of information, namely, that the eastern districts of northern Africa, presently comprehended under the names of Nubia and Scenaria, were then occupied by two distinct races; one aboriginal, which he includes under the general appellation of Ethiopians; and the other immigratory, of Arabian origin, and leading for the most part a wandering life. That such was actually the case during the Persian period, and even as far back as the times of the Pharaohs, there are many proofs; and we shall soon see how the statement in question tallies with the accounts of recent travellers. But still it would be as difficult to draw a precise line of distinction between the Arabian and aboriginal nations here, as between the negroes and Berbers in western Africa; more especially as many of the immigratory tribes have intermingled with the elder stock, and as the latter lay claim to an Arabian descent, which they have been led to consider as the more honourable. Language, however, if due caution be used in examining it, forms the most certain test, and indeed may be considered as decisive on this point. For as it is improbable that the Arabians, who pride themselves on their language, would ever relinquish it in order to adopt that of a barbarous or conquered people; so, on the other hand, all those nations who do not speak Arabic may be ranked as aboriginal, whatever descent their traditions may claim for them; and hence all of them may be included under the general appellation of Berbers or Barabras, a name which, in the same sense, is still applied to them in Egypt, if not in other countries.

Amongst these nations the first place is due to the Nubians, who live in a land of monuments, perhaps erected by their forefathers, and who, on that account, have greater claims on our attention. This name does not occur until the age of the Ptolemies, and is first mentioned by Eratos- thenes; but it soon came into use as the general denomina- tion of all the tribes living on both sides of the Nile from Egypt to Sennar, and the ancient Meroë, and some- times, in a more limited sense, as applicable only to the in- habitants of the present Dongola. The Nubians are dis- tinguished by this, that their dwellings are in the valley of the Nile, amidst numerous monuments of ancient splen- dour and civilization. They speak a language entirely dif- ferent from the Arabic; they are of a dark-brown colour, with hair either naturally curly or artificially arranged, but not at all woolly, and often formed into an elevated orna- ment, as in the figures on the monuments; and their visage has nothing whatever of the negro physiognomy. The men are well formed, strong, and muscular, with fine coun- tenances, but are something shorter in stature than the Egyptians; they have only a little beard growing under the chin, as in the Egyptian statues; they are thinly clad, indeed almost naked; and they are all armed with a spear, a dagger, and a large shield formed of the hide of the hip- popotamus. The women are well made, with very pleas- ing features; and, as they are usually bought of their pa- rents, they frequently intermarry with the Arabs. But the distinctive characteristics of race have not thereby been destroyed. The Nubian has more courage and daring than the Arab; and his beauty is as unchangeable as that of a statue in a rock temple. At Dongola the language chief- ly in use is the Nubian, the Arabian being but imperfectly understood. To the south of Dongola is the country of the Scheygias, a remarkable race of a very dark-brown or rather black complexion, but not negroes. Until recent- ly this people enjoyed complete independence, and de- fended their liberty against the army of the viceroy of Egypt, under his son Ismael Pasha, with heroic courage; but being overpowered by numbers and discipline, they were almost exterminated. The Scheygias speak the Arabic, and are probably of mixed origin. They are divided into three classes or castes; that of the learned, who have books and schools; that of the warriors, who are horsemen, each armed with a double-pointed spear, a sword, and a shield; and that of the merchants, who carry on a considerable traffic in exchanging native products for such foreign ar- ticles as they require. In their country, which borders upon that of the Berbers, are first met with the pyramidal monuments which adorned the ancient Meroë; the name of which has still been preserved in that of their chief place Meroë, though the ancient capital so called must be sought farther to the south. With regard to the Berbers, they call themselves Arabians, that they may not be confounded with the negroes; but, from Burckhardt's description, there can be little doubt that they belong to the Nubian race.

Above these regions, beyond the Astaboras or Tacazze, especially in Shendy, and thence along the Nile to Sennar, the Arabic prevails; and the mass of the inhabitants may therefore be regarded as of Arabian descent, though with an intermixture of other blood. These places have always been, and still are, great resorts of trade; and this trade has ever been principally in the hands of Arabians, whose language, accordingly, extends as far as the confines of Abyssinia, where the Amhara and other dialects first begin Ethiopian to be spoken. But the Arabic is much less general among the scattered races wandering between the valley of the Nile and the Arabian Gulf; that is, among the Blemmyes, the Megabari, the Troglodytes, and the Ichthyophagi, the tribes noticed by the ancient writers as occupying or roving through these parts. The principal race, however, is that to which Bruce and Niebuhr have given the name of Bis- charies, the same who are called Bejas or Bedjas by the early writers. That this tribe is the same as the ancient Blemmyes has been very satisfactorily demonstrated by M. Quatremère. They occupy the same territory; their ha- bits have in no respect changed; they are an aboriginal people, with nothing of the Arab about them; and conse- quently they belong to the class of nations comprehended under the general name of Berbers. The seat of the Bis- charies begins in the north, where that of the Ababdes, ex- tending from Cosseir to about the 23rd degree of north lati- tude, terminates, and is principally a mountain ridge, which, rising close to the territory of the Ababdes, runs along the eastern coast of Africa to the neighbourhood of Sinkia. This chain has from the earliest times been the abode of tribes who dwell in holes and caves originally formed by nature, but fashioned and improved by the inhabitants them- selves, who have therefore been comprehended under the name of Troglodytes, or dwellers in caves. The Troglo- dytes of Ethiopia, according to Agatharcides, were herdsmen, with separate chiefs, or heads of tribes, amongst whom there existed a community of women, the result probably of their manner of life. During the rainy season they re- tired with their herds into the caves, where they lived upon clotted milk and blood; but as soon as the weather became favourable, they hastened with their cattle into the valleys, which afforded them pasturage, and which were often a subject of violent contention. Burckhardt gives nearly a similar description of these mountaineers, whom he represents as a very savage people, living entirely upon flesh and milk, and eating much of the former raw. Some of these tribes spread themselves over the plains of Asta- bar, between the lower Tacazze and the mountains; but the peculiarities of the climate, particularly the overflowing of this branch of the Nile, which inundates the neighbouring plains, compels them to undertake a yearly migration in search of fresh pasturage. Another cause of their migra- tions, mentioned by Bruce, is the insect described by him under the name of the gadfly, which, from the commence- ment of the rainy season, abounds on the rich lands adjoin- ing the Astaboras, and kills the cattle, if they are not im- mediately driven off to the higher sandy regions, whither the destructive insect does not follow them.

The southern part of the territory of Taka or Athara, which is covered with thick forests, and overrun with sa- vage beasts, as lions, panthers, elephants, and rhinoceroses, forms the seat of the hunting tribes, of whom a very accu- rate description has been given by Agatharcides. They dwell on the banks of the Astaboras, which separates them from Meroë; in other words, they are the Shaggallas of Bruce. But no modern traveller has yet visited the inte- rior of the district inhabited by this people. Bruce jour- neyed along its southern, and Burckhardt along its north-

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1 "The people of Berber," says he, "are a very handsome race. The native colour seems to be dark-red brown. Their features are not at all those of the negro, the face being oval, the nose often perfectly Grecian; the upper lip, however, is generally some- what thicker than is considered beautiful, though it is still far from the negro lip. They are tall and thin, even more so than the Egyptians, and very healthy, sick persons being scarcely ever found among them." (Travels in Nubia, p. 216, 233.)

2 "The Blemharries, who rarely descend from their mountains, are a very savage people. Their only cattle are camels and sheep, and they live entirely upon flesh and milk, eating much of the former raw. According to the relation of several Nubiens, they are very fond of the hot blood of slaughtered sheep; but their great luxury is said to be the raw marrow of camels. Their language is different from the Arabic, and approaches the Abyssinian. They are divided into four tribes, which are often at war with one an- other for the possession of the pasturages. Their women are handsomely formed, with very fine eyes and teeth, and are of a frank disposition. They are a genuine aboriginal people of Africa." Ethiopian boundaries, in his route through Taka to Suakin: its forests, its wild beasts, and its still wilder inhabitants, render it inaccessible. The habits of these tribes have remained the same for two thousand years; they are still the same rude savages described by Agatharcides. The Hylophagi dwell under the branches of trees, which they fix in the earth in order to make themselves tents; the Dobenatis, the most powerful race of the Shangallas, live upon elephants and rhinoceroses, the flesh of which they preserve by drying it in the sun; the Bassa subsist upon the flesh of lions, and even that of snakes, which are found of an enormous size; and farther to the south is a tribe who, during the summer, feed on locusts, which they preserve by first roasting and then drying them. In the extreme east dwell the Struthiophagi, or ostrich-eaters, who must inhabit plains where alone ostriches are to be found. Lastly, we have here a new proof of the great influence which the natural circumstances of country and climate exercise upon the destiny of the human race. The various tribes of Shangallas still remain hunters, and completely savage, because their soil is unfit either for agriculture or pasturage; whilst the Bischarries follow a pastoral life, because their mountains afford food for flocks and herds. Where nature compels men to follow a nomadic life, it is vain to expect even an approach towards civilization.

But there yet remains to be noticed an Ethiopian nation, highly celebrated in antiquity, and copiously described by Herodotus; we mean the Macrobians. For the place which they have obtained in history this people are indebted to the expedition which Cambyses, from motives of cupidity, directed against them. A rumour of the vast quantity of gold possessed by them determined the Persian conqueror of Egypt to undertake this expedition; but before engaging in the enterprise, he sent from the city of Elephants in Upper Egypt some Ichthyophagi, who understood their language, as spies into their country, and furnished the latter with presents for the king of the Macrobians, consisting of a purple robe, a golden necklace, bracelets, perfumes, and a cask of palm wine. The report of the spies, whose real vocation did not escape the penetration of this people, was, upon the whole, favourable. The Macrobians were, according to them, a tall and handsome race of men, who had their own laws and institutions, and elected the tallest amongst them as their king. They were not unacquainted with the use of wine; their food consisted of boiled flesh and milk; and, according to the account of their king, they were remarkable for longevity. Their country abounded in gold, which was the metal in common use among them, even for the fetters of their prisoners; their sepulchres were made of glass (καλός); and their dead, after being embowelled, as in Egypt, were covered over with plaster, and then placed in cases, upon which were painted portraits of the deceased. Lastly, in return for the presents of Cambyses, the prince of the Macrobians sent him a bow, desiring the envoys at the same time to inform their master, that when he could bend it as easily as a Persian bow, he might undertake his projected expedition. These particulars are curious, as showing that the Macrobians must have been a nation living under fixed laws and institutions; that they understood the working in metals; that they inhabited the richest gold country of Africa; that their usages were in some respects akin to those of the Egyptians; and that they had made some progress in the cultivation of at least one of the fine arts. It appears, however, that they were ignorant of agriculture, as they knew nothing of bread except by report. But our rules of judging will not always apply to the African nations, who, proceeding from different points, and advancing in different directions, must necessarily arrive at a different end from that attained by Europeans.

Much diversity of opinion has prevailed as to the part of Africa which was occupied by this people. Bruce supposes the Macrobians to have been a tribe of Shangallas, who dwelt in the lower parts of the gold countries, Cusa and Nuba, on both sides of the Nile, to the north of Fazakla; an opinion which he founds on the slight circumstance that this race are in the habit, by means of ferules of hides, of rendering their bows nearly inflexible, like that sent in defiance to Cambyses. But as none of the Shangalla tribes have attained that degree of civilization attributed to the Macrobians, Heeren thinks that their abode must be sought for in another and more southern region; and that, in fact, it can only be determined by the statement of Herodotus that it lay on the Indian Sea, and abandoned in gold, which it either produced or imported. We are thus carried to some seaport beyond the Arabian Gulf, although we may not be able to say with certainty which; but a district is nevertheless spoken of where agriculture was not in use, and its inhabitants lived, not on bread, but on flesh; and this, Heeren, proceeding on the account given by Cosmas, surnamed the Indian, of a remarkable trade carried on with the rich gold country on the confines of the land of frankincense, conceives, on very probable grounds, to have been situated on some part of the coast between Babelmandel and Guardefui. The land of African frankincense, according to Bruce, begins at Babelmandel, and stretches eastward almost to Cape Guardefui, taking in part of Adel or Zeyla. But as the land of frankincense adjoined Sasa, which is mentioned by Cosmas as a country very rich in gold mines, and as Sasa was situated near the sea, it may be concluded that the latter formed part of the coast, and also comprehended one or more ports at which the trade was carried on. The distance of Axum from the land of frankincense, stated by Cosmas at fifty days' journey, agrees very well with this conjecture, which, moreover, is confirmed by the accounts modern travellers have given of that part of the African coast stretching from Babelmandel to Guardefui, and which is inhabited by a race neither completely negroes nor Arabs. The Samaukis, who are the people here alluded to, are not savages, but a friendly, well-disposed race, engaged in commerce, which they carry on between Africa and Arabia. Gums, myrrh, and frankincense, cattle and slaves, are the commodities exported by them, in exchange for which, as well as for gold and ivory, they receive the productions of Arabia and India, particularly the latter. The profits of this trade are very great; and the commerce, if it were not checked by the exorbitant customs imposed by the native rulers, would be immense. Taking the narration of Cosmas, therefore, in conjunction with the circumstances stated by Herodotus, it does seem probable that the Macrobians of the latter should be sought for in this region, that is, on some part of the coast not far from Cape Guardefui; and if the particulars mentioned by the former be applied to the same people, then every material difficulty vanishes, and the whole appears in a natural and satisfactory light.

The Ichthyophagi derive their name from their food,

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1 The capital of Ethiopia. 2 See Lord Valentia's Travels, vol. ii. p. 370-378. The vast quantity of gold is easily accounted for; it was either a natural product of the country, or the inhabitants had accumulated it by commerce; and hence the presents of the Persian king, consisting partly of golden ornaments, seemed to this people a mockery, which their prince was justified in taking as an insult, and returning by defiance. which consisted of fish; and, besides the tribes in Africa, some also on the coasts of Persia and Arabia received the same appellation for the same reason. The African Ichthyophagi belong properly to the Troglodyte, or dwellers in caves, and are only distinguished from others of this class by their food and manner of life. It is a remark which the whole history of the human race confirms, that the nations or tribes which subsist on fish are the very lowest in the scale of civilization; and the wretched savages we have mentioned form no exception to the truth of the observation. Strangers to all domestic ties; with no dwellings excepting clefts and holes; and without even fishing implements, as they fed only on those fish which were left behind by the retiring floods, they seem to have been of all savages at once the most miserable and the most degraded. Such being their character and condition, it seems difficult to conceive how Cambyses came to choose from such a race, individuals to act as envoys or spies. But as he sent for the Ichthyophagi from Elephants in Upper Egypt, where a party of them must consequently have lived, and as his choice was no doubt determined by their acquaintance with the country and language of the Ethiopians, it is probable that they belonged to the roving tribes, who carried on the trade between Egypt and Ethiopia, and formed the caravans which travelled from the one country to the other. There was in fact no other way of passing from Egypt to the country of the Macrobians but by a caravan; and these people, as they understood the language spoken in the latter, must have journeyed thither once or oftener. Heeren intimates a conjecture that they belonged to the Ababdes, whose country stretches to the neighbourhood of the region above described, and who, from the most remote times, have been carriers of merchandise.

The Ethiopian nations with which we have thus become acquainted must obviously be ranked, as a whole, in the lowest grade of civilization. Yet there still exists an evident difference of improvement among them; in fact, various gradations are observable, from the complete savage, whose rank might be disputed by the ourang-outang, to the hunting and fishing tribes, and from these again to the nomadic herdsmen of the mountains and the plains. But we do not anywhere discover a single nation which had united in a settled abode, and formed itself into a great and well-organized state. The nature of the country, and the climate, seem to have opposed a barrier which, in modern times at least, has not been overcome. Anciently, however, there did exist a better cultivated, and to a certain degree civilized Ethiopian people, who dwelt in cities, erected temples and other edifices, which they inscribed with hieroglyphics, lived under government and laws, and were famed over a considerable part of the earth for their progress in knowledge and the social arts. That state was Meroë.

Celebrated for upwards of two thousand years, Meroë, from its distant situation, has, until of late years, been involved in mystery and obscurity. But the hardy enterprises of Burchhardt and Caillaud, particularly the latter, have at length dispelled the dark cloud under which it was so long hidden; Meroë has at length been disclosed; and a new world of antiquities, the existence of which had not even been imagined, has been laid open, as it were, to our view. The southern boundary of Egypt had hitherto been considered as the utmost verge of ancient civilization and science. But more distant regions have at length been explored. Bruce and his predecessors led the way by crossing the Nubian desert, and others soon followed, who, penetrating the upper countries situated on the Nile, discovered that succession of monuments on its banks which has excited so much astonishment amongst antiquaries, as well by their number as their magnitude. Temple after temple appeared, some erected upon and others excavated in the rocks and the earth; scarcely was one passed when another appeared in view; colossal figures, buried up to their shoulders in sand, projected their enormous proportions; and an immense number of pyramids, with temples and ruins of cities close by or intermingled with them, rose to the sight of the astonished beholders. At last appeared the distant Meroë itself, with the ancient temple of Ammon still erect and majestic in its ruins.

The course of the Nile above Egypt, before its conflux with the Astaboras, lies through a valley enclosed on both sides by chains of hills, which sometimes recede and sometimes advance, until they almost approach the banks of the river. Any great deviation in the course of the stream is thus rendered impossible, though nothing exists to obstruct lesser windings in the wider portions of the enclosed valley. But as the soil of this valley was undoubtedly, at one time as fertile in the upper regions as it is in Egypt itself (for where it could remain in that state it is still found so), we may conclude that it was at one time a highly cultivated country, with a numerous population, and a long succession of cities. As the mountain chains which enclose the valley are, however, succeeded on both sides of the river by sandy deserts,—on the east by the Nubian, and on the west by the great sandy waste which stretches right across Africa,—the sand has proved a still more formidable enemy here than in Egypt; and the lower chain affording but a slight defence, this deadly foe of all civilization has not only penetrated into the valley, but frequently buried, in part or in whole, the monuments which abound in it. The same cause must have occasioned some alterations in the course of the river itself, forcing separate branches into one channel, and joining small islands to the mainland. At all events, the valley of the Nile was certainly very different from what it is now, traces of old canals formed for extending its periodical overflow being everywhere visible; and these changes alone would have been sufficient to affect the condition of the inhabitants, even if other events had not conspired to accelerate the progress of decay. The river, deviating from its generally straight course, forms a bend or bow from 19° to 23° by running into the west, deeper into Libya; and the inner part of this incursion is occupied by the Nubian desert. But the stream soon winds again to the eastward, and resumes a northerly direction, which it preserves throughout Nubia and Egypt.

For the first accounts of the course of the Nile above Egypt we are indebted to Herodotus, who collected them in Egypt, probably at Thebes or at Elephantis, beyond which he never proceeded. According to the information which he received, he states that, beyond the Egyptian boundary, the country becomes higher; that in this part a boat is dragged up the stream by means of a rope, fastened on either side, and if it chance to break, the boat is forced back by the violence of the current; that this navigation continues four days, the Nile winding, like the Meander, through a space of twelve scheini or seventy-two geographical miles; that the traveller next arrives at a plain where the Nile flows round an island named Ta-chompos; that the parts above Elephantis are inhabited by Ethiopians, excepting one half of the island, which is held by Egyptians; that close to the island is a vast lake,

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1 Heeren, Historical Researches into the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade of the Carthaginians, Ethiopians, and Egyptians, vol. i. p. 383. English Translation. Oxford, 1832, 8vo. Ethiopian after crossing which the stream of the Nile, lost for a time in this expanse of water, is again met with; that a journey of forty days is then performed on the bank of the river; that in this part of the Nile sharp rocks rise above the water, and numerous shoals are met with, amongst which it is impossible to navigate; and that having passed through this country, the traveller again embarks in another boat, and, after twelve days' navigation, reaches an extensive city, the name of which is Meroë. Such is the statement of Herodotus, founded upon the information which he had collected in Egypt. In comparing it with the accounts of recent travellers, we shall find that all those objects, such as cliffs and rocks, which are not liable to change, still answer to his description; whilst, in other respects, supposing Herodotus to have been correctly informed, material alterations appear to have taken place.

Amongst the moderns, Norden was the first who attempted to navigate the Nile above Egypt, and to draw maps of its course. These, which reach only to Derri, Deir, or Deir, the end of his journey, are, notwithstanding all that has since been done, still the fullest in particulars. Burckhardt, in his first journey, kept near the banks of the river, and only penetrated as far as the frontiers of Dongola; in his second he traversed the Nubian desert. The journey and map of Legh extend no farther than the second cataract; and the magnificent work of Gau only reaches to the same place. The statements of Senkowsky, up to this limit, are also exceedingly accurate. Above the second cataract, from Wady-Halfa to the boundaries of Sennar, or the ancient Meroë, Waddington and Hanbury have given a map of the course of the Nile; and for the more distant regions the authorities are Bruce, Burckhardt, and particularly Caillaud.

The winding course of the Nile above Syene is shown in Norden's twenty-fourth chart. The river here holds a serpentine course, but without any considerable curvature. Its current is so strong that Norden was obliged to quit his bark; Legh also found it difficult to make head against the stream; and, in the territory of Kalabsché, where it is confined within a channel about thirty yards in width, its impetuosity becomes so great as to render navigation exceedingly hazardous. As the voyage to the island of Ta-chomposo is stated by Herodotus to be twelve scheni, or seventy-two geographical miles, which, navigating against the stream, it required four days to perform, this island may therefore be that now called Kalabsché, or another named Ghyrshé, about twenty miles farther. The river contains many islands of which an accurate account is still wanting; but the great difficulty is the lake through which it is said to have flowed. The river, it is true, spreads out sometimes to a greater and sometimes to a less extent, but a lake is nowhere to be found. It follows, therefore, either that Herodotus was misinformed in regard to this particular, or that the features of the region in question have undergone a change, whether from the accumulation of sand, or from the gradual detrition of a natural barrier, which had originally dammed up the stream to a certain height, and formed the lake mentioned by him. We incline to the latter opinion, which is strengthened by what is known to have taken place at the cataracts; for, owing to the diminished obstruction, these rapids no longer answer the description of them given by the ancients. It may also be added, that, at the time of the annual floods, the Nile, in those parts where the mountain chains recede and suffer its waters to cover the valley, presents the appearance of a lake. From the site of the supposed lake the navigation of the stream continues unobstructed as far as the second cataract, near Wady-Halfa (21° 50'), a view of which is given by Gau; but above this cataract the bed of the river is often interrupted by rocky shoals, which cause rapids. Of these, one is near Wady-Attyr, another near Wady-Ambigo, and a third near Wady-Lamulé (under 21°); beyond which Burckhardt met with two others, the farthest being on the northern boundary of the kingdom of Dongola (19° 30'). But the obstruction of the navigation does not stop here; for Caillaud continues it as far as Merawé, where the great falls commence. Above the northern boundary of Dongola, the features of the country become much changed; the mountain chains recede much farther; and the Nile, hitherto frequently compressed into a narrow channel, here spreads out into many branches, enclosing a number of fruitful islands adorned with palm-groves, vineyards, and meadows covered with numerous herds, especially of camels. Everything, says Hanbury, might here be found in abundance; nature has done her part, if man had performed his. But at this time the country appeared to great disadvantage, owing to the wanton devastation committed by the Egyptian army under Ismael Pasha. Having thus reached the immediate vicinity of the junction of the Astabars or Taccazze with the Nile, or, in other words, the ancient island of Meroë, we shall, before entering the latter, pause for a little, to contemplate the monuments scattered along the Nubian portion of the valley of the Nile, the external features of which we have just described.

That the Nubian valley was once covered, on both sides of the river, with towns or villages, containing a numerous population, cannot possibly be doubted. Of these, Philae has left us the names, and only the names, of twenty on each side. In his time they no longer existed, and it is probable that they were destroyed in the earlier contests between Egypt and Ethiopia. They must therefore have been very ancient; indeed the great population of the upper valley of the Nile favours the opinion which refers these towns to the time of the Pharaohs. But in Nubia, as in Egypt, the great works in architecture were confined to public edifices. The people during the day lived almost in the open air, and their dwellings were little more than resting-places for the night, or mere huts, which fell into decay as soon as they ceased to be occupied, and were speedily swept from the earth. Yet the ancient Parembole is still found in the present Debod; the name of Taphis is preserved in that of Tafa; Kalabsché is manifestly the ancient Talmis; Pselas is the present Dakki; Metacompo nominally survives in the modern Kebban; farther south Abrim represents the ancient Primis; and all these places are below the first Nubian cataract. But though the dwellings of man have vanished, not so those of the gods: the habitations of the former, like himself, have passed away; those of the latter seem to be imperishable. The series of temples commences on both sides of the Nile, almost immediately above the Egyptian cataracts. The first is that of Debod, twelve miles beyond Philae (see article Egypt), on the left bank of the Nile; at nearly the same distance is that of Kardassy; and only five miles farther, that of Tafa. Next come the two temples of Kalabsché, one built upon the ground, the other hewn in the rocks; at about ten miles more is the temple of Dandour; and again, at a like distance, that of Ghyrshé, partly above ground, partly hewn out of a rock. Ten miles farther up is the temple of Dakki, at the same distance that of Maharraka, and sixteen miles farther that of Seboa, half built above, and half cut into the earth. Thirty miles farther stands the temple of Derar, on the right side; and sixty miles beyond this is the temple in the rocks of Ipsambul, with its colossi, forty-eight miles below the Nubian cataract of Wady-Halfa, near to which stands another temple. Beyond this the chain is broken, and does not recommence till about a hundred and fifty miles But where, it may be asked, is the renowned Meroë Ethiopian temple; and thirty miles onward appears the temple of Soleb, which Burckhardt considers as the most southern of those constructed in the Egyptian style. Here, in fact, the first chain obviously terminates; but a new one also commences on the frontiers of the ancient Meroë; and about two hundred miles farther, near Merawé and the adjoining mountain of Berkal, temples re-appear, accompanied with groups of pyramids. About two hundred and forty miles onward we reach the junction of the Nile and Asuboras, crossing which we enter the island of Meroë, and, proceeding about ninety miles farther, arrive at the temples and pyramidal ruins of the ancient city of Meroë.

It would be inconsistent with the object of this article to attempt any general description of the monuments which we have just enumerated; this may be introduced with greater propriety under another head. But an attentive examination of these monuments suggests some general observations both as to their character and the history of the country where they are found, which we shall endeavour to state as briefly as possible. And, first, it appears that the religion, rites, and arts of Egypt, were not confined to its proper territory, but extended to the upper valley of the Nile, where the same deities were worshipped, and the rites of Ammon everywhere predominated, together with those of his temple-kindred and companions. Secondly, the character of the architecture, between which and the ornaments it received from the hand of the sculptor a distinction must be made, is upon the whole the same; but there is a progress in it which cannot be mistaken. In the monuments of Egypt, the art is found in its greatest perfection, perhaps also in its decline; here, however, we observe it in its rise and progress, from small grottos, such as those of Derar, until it attained the sublime magnitude in which it exists at Ip-sambel. Thirdly, as the science of architecture appears to have commenced with grottos and tombs, and to have been perfected by degrees, the rock-monuments probably determined its principal character to the colossal form which it assumed. From the grottos it first rose into the open air; and then quitting this junction, erected monuments unconnected with such excavations. Fourthly, in regard to the sculptures and bas-reliefs with which the walls and columns of these monuments, below ground as well as above, are profusely ornamented, it would seem that, in general, they are not coeval with the edifices on which they are found. In the architecture, and even in the colossal statues, a progress may be traced from the rude attempts to a state of comparative perfection; but in the reliefs nothing of the kind is discernible; all of these exhibit, in nearly an equal degree, the most improved state of the art; and the subject-matter of the inscriptions shows that the decoration of the walls and columns was posterior in date to the erection of the monuments. On every part of the temples of Ip-sambel, Kalabshé, Derar, Ghyrsiéh, and Seboa, may be read in hieroglyphics the name of Rhames the Great, or Sesostris, one of whose first military undertakings was an expedition against Ethiopia. Fifthly, the conclusion of Heeren, that these pictorial representations are not to be considered as mere ornaments or fanciful creations of art, but as historical records, is supported by every thing that has yet been discovered on the subject. And, lastly, as it appears that the Nubian monuments, strictly so called, are more ancient than those of Egypt, and that the course of improvement has, in general, followed that of the stream, it is highly probable that the latter country, whatever ascendancy it may have acquired when its people had become a powerful nation, originally derived from the upper valley of the Nile the elements both of art and civilization. Ethiopian though one of them has evidently the hair dressed in the broad Nubian fashion. Thus, then, has at length been ascertained beyond all doubt that remarkable spot which antiquity generally regarded as the cradle of the arts and sciences; where hieroglyphical writing was first discovered; and where temples and pyramids had been constructed, whilst Egypt still remained ignorant of their existence, and the land afterwards called that of the Pharaohs was unadorned with monuments. For a masterly account of the religion, government, and laws of Meroë, as well as illustrations of its history, the reader is referred to the Researches of Heeren, which we have here followed.

Meroë was the capital of a country which both the Hebrew and Greek writers describe as one of the richest upon earth, and which, besides being reputed the cradle of the arts and sciences, was, from the most remote ages, distinguished for its trade and commerce. The Phenicians, and even the Jews, were acquainted with it; the Hebrew poets cite the names of its various cities and harbours, expatiating on the treasures which were imported from them; and no sooner had the Greeks obtained some knowledge of these regions, than they exhausted language in extolling their boundless riches. From the very earliest times a close connection appears to have subsisted between Egypt and Ethiopia. The Hebrew poets seldom mention the one without the other, and both are represented as commercial nations. When Isaiah celebrates the victories of Cyrus, their submission is spoken of as his most magnificent reward: "The trade of the Egyptians, and the merchandise of the Ethiopians, and of the tall men of Saba, will come over to thee and become thine own." When Jeremiah extols the great victory which Nebuchadnezzar obtained over Pharaoh-Necho near Carchemish, the Ethiopians are mentioned as allied to the Egyptians; and when Ezekiel threatens the downfall of Egypt, he unites it with the most distant Ethiopia. Every page of Egyptian history, indeed, exhibits proofs of the close intimacy which subsisted between these countries; and commerce appears to have formed the common tie which united them. Of this commerce Heeren has collected all the particulars which are to be gleaned from the ancient writers, sacred and profane, and illustrated their statements with his usual ability and erudition. The conclusions which he has deduced from his investigations are alike curious and important, and, resting upon grounds which cannot be shaken, may be received as demonstrated propositions. First, it appears that, in the earlier ages, a commercial intercourse existed between the countries of southern Asia and Africa, between India and Arabia, Ethiopia, Libya, and Egypt, which intercourse was founded upon their mutual necessities, and became the means by which the civilization of these people was promoted. Secondly, the principal seat of this national intercourse for Africa was Meroë; and its principal route is still pointed out by a chain of ruins, extending from the shores of the Indian Sea to the Mediterranean. Adulé, Azab, and Axum, are links of this chain between Arabia Felix or Yemen, and Meroë; Thebes and Ammonium are those between Meroë, Egypt, and Carthage. Thirdly, the chief places of this trade were likewise establishments of the priest-caste, who, as a dominant race, had their principal seat at Meroë, whence they sent out colonies, which in their turn became builders of cities and temples, and likewise founders of states. Thus the first seats of commerce were also the first seats of civilization; exchange of merchandise led to exchange of ideas; religion readily interposed its sanction in behalf of commerce; and "by this mutual friction was first kindled the sacred flame of humanity."

On this subject the reader may consult Heeren, Researches into the Politics, Intercourse, and Trade of the Carthaginians, Ethiopians, and Egyptians, vol. ii. Engl. transl.; Herodotus, iv. 197, et seqq.; Lyon's Narrative, p. 108, 112; Quatremère, Mémoires sur l'Égypte, vol. ii.; Burckhardt's Travels in Nubia; Legh's Narrative of a Journey in Egypt, and the Countries beyond the Cataracts; Waddington and Hambury's Travels; Agatharcides, De Rubro Mari, in Geog. Min. Hudson, i.; Bruce's Travels, iii. p. 69-72; Valentini's Travels, ii. p. 394; Deutsche Monatschrift, July 1799; Norden, Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie, Paris, 1795; Gau, Antiquités de Nubie, Paris, 1824; Caillaud, Voyage à Meroë, au Fleuve Blanc, etc.; Belzoni, Narrative of Operations in Egypt and Nubia, p. 71, 73; Champollion, Précis du Système Hiéroglyphique, p. 241; Nouvelles Annales des Voyages, xiii. 416; Europäische Blätter, October, 1824; Eratosthenes apud Strabo; Heeren, Researches on the Asiatic Nations; Vincent's Periplos of the Erythraean Sea; Maillet, Description de l'Égypte, p. 197, 216, etc.; Alvarez, Viaggio della Etiopia; Mannert, Geography of the Greeks and Romans; Salt, Voyage to Abyssinia; St John, Egypt and Mohammed Ali, or Travels in the Valley of the Nile, London, 1834, in 2 vols. 8vo.