WILKINSON'S MODERN EGYPT AND THEBES.

THE basis of this elaborate work is a book written by Sir GARDNER WILKINSON so long ago as 1827, descriptive of Egypt and the monu- ments it contains ; and which then served as an exposition of the existing state of the country for the stay-at-home, and a useful manual for the person who braved the (in those days) greater hard- ships and adventure of Egyptian travel. Since that time, the fre- quency and rapidity of communication by Mediterranean steam- navigation, the transit through Egypt of over-land passengers to India, and the changes made in Egypt herself by hotels in the cities, stages in the desert, and steamers on the Nile, with the influx of European visitors, which time and the march of mechanism have brought about, have entirely altered the state of affairs ; and Sir GARDNER has altered his book to correspond.

This new and expanded work is in reality a guide-book, but a guide-book primus rather than inter primores. HOMER, as Mr. MACAULAY Says, is not more the first of epic poets, SHAKSFERE the first of dramatists, DEMOSTHENES the first of orators, and BOSWELL the first of biographers or rather life-writers, than Modern Egypt and Thebes is the most complete of guide-books. It is not merely that it fulfils the first end of such a publication, in telling what is to be done and seen, and how to do and see it, but it is an original work. The reader has the cream of Sir GARDNER WIL- KINSON'S Egyptian experiences, and studies, put into two large octavoes • whereas guides in general are a mere olla podrida of other books, owing their merit entirely to the skill with which the artiste hashes up °his borrowed materials and chooses the freshly- gathered herbs that form the only novelty nf the dish. In Modern Egypt and Thebes there are indeed large quotations from HERO. Dorus's history down to the latest announcement Of the Penin- sular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company ' • but these are proper and in place. They are necessary to the book—as ne- cessary as the historian's quotations or authorities; and, like Dr. ARNOLD in his Rome, Sir GARDNER could doubtless have written off the book without consulting them, and only referred to them afterwards for literal exactness.

When a person intends to visit a place, the first question naturally is, "How am I to get there ?" Sir GARDNER WILKIN- SON'S book, therefore, properly begins with particulars respecting the various routes to and fro ; embracing a sketch of the Indian journey, memoranda touching the post, directions regarding qua- rantine and lazaretto, with minute particulars as to time, charges, exchanges, and general advice. And although this occupies above a hundred pages, it has an interest either from its reality, or the conclusions it indirectly compels the mind to form respecting the , vast and wonderful combinations of modern business and the convenience they offer to single individuals, or from the idea that one may some time or other take a trip to Egypt and ascend the Nile one's self. When the traveller has been possessed with this preliminary information, and is safely brought to Alexandria, the description of the promised land begins. This consists of four classes ; subject to modification according to circumstances. First and foremost come creature-comforts and money-matters,---- the best hotels, where there are any ; the best means of transport, and the proper charges; the impositions that may arise, and how to meet them, with the prices of things throughout Egypt ; and gene- ral advice upon times, seasons, and circumstances. The Classical and Mahometan history of the place is next handled ; which is followed by a minute account of curiosities ; the fullest descrip- tion being reserved for the most important subjects,—the ruins of Thebes, for example, occupying one hundred and thirty pages. A topographical description of the district forms a fourth division, and sometimes constitutes the principal feature of the section. It may

be added that the country is treated of by districts; beginning with Alexandria, proceeding onwards to Cairo and the Pyramids, and then describing the Delta before ascending the Nile and consider- ing Upper Egypt. To a person contemplating the journey, and really wishing to profit by it, we should recommend the rebinding of the work into as many different volumes as there are distinct divisions ; making the preliminary information one, and keeping the Egyptian history, the Arabic vocabulary, and other appended

matters, also separate. Such an arrangement would not only offer each particular part in a handier form for use, but the mechanical separation would at once present the " circles " of the country to the eye • enabling the tourist to select such parts as he intended to visit, and to study them as wholes without distraction.

Thus far we have spoken of the work as a guide. Considered as a book for home reading, it is perhaps somewhat less useful; the vast variety of topics, which render it so valuable for practical purposes, rather overwhelming the mind of the reader : nor is it till after some examination that the scope and arrangement of the book is fully apprehended. Then' no doubt, the seeming medley becomes unity, and the book may be read with advantage as a pic- ture of the remains of ancient Egypt, and a description of the present character and condition of the country,—though these parts are not so full and complete as they might have been had they been singly presented. However, either as a guide or for the library, Modern Egypt and Thebes maintains its character as the production of pre- vious study and experience, and not a book read-up for. Passages, too, are everywhere met with, possessing that graphic force and spirit which animate observations drawn from life. Of these we will quote a few as examples.

PLEASURES Or THE LAZARETTO.

Every one on entering the lazaretto is obliged to unpack all his things, and put them out on wooden horses, during the whole time of his stay, the last three days excepted, which are allowed for packing up ; and his quarantine

does not begin to count until they have been so exposed. All sealed letters or packages most also be opened, unless he chooses to give up the former, and. have them forwarded, after proper fumigation, by the post. Any thing may be sent for from the town; but nothing can be returned, unless it can pass un- injured through the process of fumigation. The guardians are obliged every now and then to inspect the rooms, to see that the things have been laid out and properly exposed to the air. Great care must be taken to avoid touching any one not in quarantine, as he would be condemned to pass the same number of days in the lazaretto as the person so compromising him ; who would have to pay all his expenses, and these he might increase to any amount in revenge

for his confinement. •

The influx of Europeans has greatly raised the price of every thing they require, and among others the rent of houses ; as eveit. a casual sojourner, if proposing a considerable stay, might find it better to become a housekeeper, especially if health were his ob- ject. This, however, has its preliminary difficulties in the native or cheap quarter.

HOUSE-HUNTING AT CAIRO.

In looking at empty houses, the most disagreeable result is being covered. with fleas, which it is next to impossible to avoid. A Turk, in mentioning the subject, recommended that three or four fellas should be first sent through the rooms, to carry off the hundreds that lay in wait for the first corners: by these means one could venture in, with the hopes of being attacked only by the dozens, which might be more patiently endured. If a house is taken in the Turkish quarter by a bachelor, or one having no hareem the neighbours may, as they frequently do, object to his occupying it ; in which case the only remedy, (besides abandoning it, in the hopes of finding others less fastidious,) is to get some person of respectability to talk them over, by representing the intended occupant as a man of good character, who is not likely to shock their feelings. In the event of their still objecting, and the house suiting him well, he may look out for some liberated Black slave, who will act as cook, and who, however old, may, under the cover of a Cairene woman's dress, be denominated a hareem, without their having the right to ask any further questions. It must, however, be observed, that no native maid-servant is allowed to take service in the house of a bachelor; though this is sometimes overlooked by the shekh of the quarter, through particular persuasion, and on the promise that she shall be a properly-conducted person, whose conduct shall not excite the displeasure of the neighbours; the consequence of the discovery by the police entailing on the shekh a bastinado, and the same on the woman herself, as a substitute for the old custom of putting her into a sack and throwing her into the Nile.

CUSTOMS AT SIWAFI, THE OASIS OF AMMON.

They have a curiou customs in receiving strangers As soon as any one arrives, the Shekh el Khabbar, shekh of the news," presents himself, and after the usual tokens of welcome, proceeds to question him respecting any sort of intelligence he may be able to give. As soon as it has been obtained from him, the shekh relates it all to the people; and so tenacious is he of his privis lege, that even if they had all heard it at the time from the mouth of the stranger, they are obliged to listen to it again from this authorized reporter.

Married people alone are allowed to live in the upper town, and there no strangers are admitted. Nor is a native bachelor tolerated there : he is obliged to live in the lower town, and is thought unworthy to live in the same quarter as his married friends until he has taken a wife.

He then returns to the family house, and builds a suite of rooms above his father's; over his again the second married son establishes himself; and the stories increase in proportion to the size of the family. This suffices to account for the height of many of the houses at Siwah. A similar regulation seems to have been observed in ancient times; and Q. Curtius says the first circuit con- tains the old palace of the kings, (shekhs,) in the next are their wives and chil- dren, as well as the oracle of the god, and the last is the abode of the guards and soldiery.

A map of Egypt is prefixed to the first volume ; and the letter- press is freely intersprinkled with spirited wood-cuts, which bring before the eye the character of the features described in the text.