93 ^S9 // 'MmJMM«ywJ\i ^M^M^ : Ml^fl WVYVVLMV, V*W' 'VWM£V "WW^ ff?/ fwwwgg/^ ^vwwwu yw* VVVVV'.-'V V Vt> ■ "«¥» ♦ LIBRARY OF CONGRESS J f A # \ | [SMITHSONIAN DEPOSIT.] * J ** 3)^3 | $ — j ^UNITED STATES OE AMERICA, J ^^v**^ ^^WiMi )k^^*mmi M^, wm^mud* $mmmm 'wh$jn5$$ «*«**© /K^^^Lvv. U y V"\J^ &vwv^ ^WMQ- - - V ! ■ - - - J ^V^VWV'v^UL '. - >ytfVi ^^: ww Ww ww ^v^w^ ^^^^^^ : N-^^ w^Wm*: «^^ W^S^f^^ mmmm (Bl/yW^wi ^> N, and feeling unable for the fatigue of country excursions, he confined 26 MEMOIK OF ALEXANDER HENRY RHIND. himself to an examination of the local museum of the Institute, and to attendance in the Sections at the reading of the more remarkable papers. At a later period of the season he arranged for a lease of the beautiful mansion of Down House near Bristol, of which, on 10th October, he thus wrote to me at Malvern, where I was at the time — " I have been getting settled in my new abode, into which I moved a week ago. Although I am pretty well accustomed to moving my tent, yet it is a sad tax on time and other occupations shaking into place, when the result promises to be something like permanency. When it is over, however, and my penates are fixed, I fancy I may count upon having no other flitting in the full sense of the term until the last." He was at the same time meditating his usual winter flight, but amid all his distractions, he kept in view the arrangement of the Museum at Edinburgh. In the same letter he writes me — " I have heard from Mr M'Culloch [the keeper of the Museum] several times, and I write as fully as I can in answer to his questions. You know, however, the difficulty of realising the positions of absent things, and of tracing in and by letters, transpositions which a glance might set at rest. So far as I make out he has been getting on nicely; but when you get home, do look in and keep him, as far as possible, to principles, which, with the best will in the world, one is apt to overlook in a natural, and, indeed, so far commendable anxiety to arrange for 4he eye and for facility of cataloguing." It was Mr Ehind's wish to have been present at the meeting of the British Association which took place at Aberdeen in September of this year : he took especial interest in the proceedings of the Ethnological Section, and the relative Archaeological Museum formed under the auspices of Mr Charles E. Dalrymple and other members of a local committee. But as he afterwards wrote to Dr Davis from Boulogne on 7th November, he was unable to enjoy the pleasure : " To me it was a decided privation to have been obliged MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY RIIIND. 27 to forego the meeting at Aberdeen, as besides the other inducements, I had counted upon meeting so many friends together who are not easily brought within reach otherwise." In this letter he informed Dr Davis that he had been detained at Boulogne from the effects of a bad cold caught during the passage across, which proved unexpectedly boisterous, by exposure from which he could find no shelter, in conse- quence of the crowd on board and the miserably uncomfortable con- struction of the steamer. He however felt so much better as to propose to begin his journey to Hyeres on the following day. On that day, however, he had a recurrence of his old complaint, which completely prostrated him, and detained him at Boulogne for a month before he gathered even a feeble amount of strength. " You will readily believe," he afterwards wrote to Dr Davis from Hyeres on 3d March 1860, " that under these circumstances a journey across France in mid winter was rather an undertaking, but there was nothing else to be done, and by care and arrangement I accomplished it without detriment." In the same letter he "writes — " I have no doubt you have read Darwin's remarkable book on the " Origin of Species." I had it sent here with a parcel of others, and have just finished it. Viewed antagonistically or not, it is a great perfor- mance, from the evident and continuous thought with which it has been elaborated, and the free range which it evinces over a vast area of facts. Without as yet having been able to give it full consideration, I am dis- posed to think that he has done more than has ever been done formerly to show cause for believing that species are not necessarily fixed elemental points. But how far, and to what extent, the power and principle of mutability has been operative, is the question. Whether an inflexible logic, from specials to the widest generals, is to bear clown all before it ; and whether an analogy, not necessarily of universal application, must be held to swamp all difficulties, is the issue. I should like to see this phase discussed by the professed physiologists and zoologists ; and I dare say this will come presently, but hitherto they seem to have been rather hold- ing aloof." In a letter to me from Hyeres, dated 27th February of this year, "28 MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY RHIND. are the following passages on " The Picts/' and " The Sculptured Stones of Scotland," which are well worth preserving : — " As to the special point you mention, defining Galloway in the tenth century Terra Pictorum, I do not, like you, remember any authority applicable, otherwise than inferentially. But with regard to the actual ethnologic position of the Celtic population which we seem to find there later, that could only be dealt with as part of the general question affecting the Picts. And first of all, what force is to be given to the name Pict 1 If we are to use it merely in a political sense (so to say) as describing the nation we find in East and North East Scotland, then it would have no more ethnographic significance than for example the terms Mercian or East Anglian in South Britain, and would fail to be a palpable distinction. But if we are to make it a test of race, and of generic im- port, we have the old problem in all its complexity. I myself greatly doubt the accuracy of a rigid application. I am satisfied as to the generic Kelticism of the Picts, but not that they were exclusively or specially Gaelic, or specially Cymric. While, then, Bede lays down their boundaries to the South expressly enough, in his day, as a nation, we must not necessarily ipso facto conclude that the race element of Pietism was at all times, or at any time, restricted to the north of his line, and to the ex- clusion of Ireland — where, the more I used to think of it, the more I was convinced that there was not an uniformity in its Keltism. I should greatly like to see developed the line of inquiry which you point to, and which the new glimpses of Pictish institutions have opened up- — namely, a minute comparison with the state of matters in Ireland and South Britain. " As to the Stones, a section of what you mention is very much Avhat I have been endeavouring to keep in view. With reference to a general idea, in demanding which you rather drive me into a corner, I would be disposed to formulate it somewhat thus : — "1. The crude figures in their simplicity (those we term symbols) have not hitherto been met with — at all events similarly grouped elsewhere. " 2. The ornamentation, — interlaced knot work, and such like — was common in Eoman work, particularly of late time. "3. Certain of the figures, such as some of the men and horses, have a strong resemblance to debased Eoman work. To give one or two ana- logies : — on the fronts of Christian sarcophagi from the catacombs at Eome, and in incidental has reliefs often merely built into modern walls in Italy, I have noted groups of considerable correspondence with the best MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY KIIINK 29 of ours ; such as men with kilt -like tunics, horses of the same lull, rounded contour, ridden by men without stirrups and with pointed toes, a chariol with occupants like one al Meigle. "As to the first (the symbols) I should not fee] quite warranted to speculate whence they originated, although, judging by analogy and by tin epoch to which they seem referrible, I should suspecl thai they sprung from some untraceable foreign germs, rather than consider that they were of pure native creation. But that they were a specially native develop- //<< /// seems clear from their number and local restriction. The second and third, again, I should be inclined to look upon as almost entirely adopted and imitative products. If this view be correct, it should exercise an influence on what may be termed the archaeological reading of the third (the figures, &c), by making it doubtful whether they are intended to represent the contemporary dress or customs of the country. " On the general ethnical questions hinging on the positive or negative affirmation of an early native art-growth, I could not here enter. " I am now in correspondence with Italy on the subject of some of those reliefs and sarcophagi to which I alluded ; but it is difficidt to accom- plish exactly what one wants. In a fortnight or so a friend of mine is going there, and I think I may be able to get some help through him. If you chance to have any spare copies of individual stones on thin paper, and would send me three, being of examples typically representative of respectively the symbols, the ornamenting knot-work, and the pictorial figures, they might be very useful in enabling me to send clear instruc- tions by my friend." In his next letter to me, dated 4th April, lie writes : — " Your letter, and the packet with the lithographs of the stones which you so practically replied to me by sending, arrived safely a fortnight ago and I lost no time in employing the latter in the manner I had in view. I have not yet heard from Koine as to the results of the instructions 1 gave for a draughtsman's work, nor, indeed, do I expect to do so for some little time. " The report of your last meeting shows a most thriving state of things. Accurate drawings and descriptions, like that by Captain Thomas of the houses in Harris, are of the highest interest, and I echo your wish that they (particularly the plans and drawings) were more numerous. 1 am very glad to be able to send you with this, I suppose in time for your next meeting, a paper, the materials for wliieli have at various times cost 30 MEMOIK OF ALEXANDER HENRY RHIND. me much trouble in the gathering. It forms part of the diggings in the general archaeology of the Old World, which I try to keep following out, without being very hopeful, I am sad to confess it, that I shall ever he able to complete my scheme." The paper thus referred to was " On the Use of Bronze and Iron in Ancient Egypt, with reference to General Archaeology." An abstract of it is printed in our Proceedings, vol. in. p. 464. About the middle of April Mr Khind began his homeward journey, making Msmes his headquarters for two or three weeks, " as there is a good deal of antiquarian interest there, and close by at Aries," reaching England early in June. On the 15th of this month he wrote Dr Davis on the subject of a series of ethnological queries, which that gentleman proposed to put into the hands of competent observers in different localities : — " In the matter of the ' queries,' of course, I shall be most glad to be of any use to you ; but when you and Stuart talk of my opinion on the sub- ject as being of any value, I am only certain that you both very decidedly overestimate it. I think the form of the questions is well calculated to get at the facts you want ; but I frankly confess to you that I should put little or no reliance for purposes of sound deduction, upon the answers in the mass which you are likely to receive. JSTobody will know better than yourself how rare is the capacity for scientific observation, even in matters where direct tangible testimony is alone involved, without the necessity of the exercise of judgment. But in the case of your queries, where the ob- server has to state general results (as in 2, 3, and 6), from a comparative discrimination of many (say twenty) diverse units, I think the task is one which, if well executed, would itself require a judicious and rational ethno- loger. Again, supposing that individual observers were tolerably capable, there would almost necessarily be sufficient difference in their respective mental processes of weighing evidence, to make the aggregate product an accretion of ?miiniforni items. In fact, it seems to me that a series of observations, such as those in question, to be of full practical value, would require to be made by one practised eye, guided by one standard of elimi- nation — in short, it is an affair in which, from the delicacy of the process, as applied to minute ethnology, everything depends on the observer and his judicial ability. I would strongly, therefore, incline to the view that, MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY RIIIND. 31 if you contemplate founding on a series of inquiries of the nature indicated in the 'queries,' it would be a very great matter if you could, in your own person, make the few local inspections that would he needed. Previously selecting your points, and provided with introductions, a tour of four or six weeks would, I believe, accomplish the work satisfactorily, and in such a manner that, if you came to build, you coidd rely upon the bricks." In the month of August 1860 I had the pleasure of visiting Mr Ehind at Ms residence near Bristol. He was then busy with his book on Thebes, and in such health as enabled him to enjoy the society of Ms friends, and to take daily drives in his carriage. The season, however, was on the whole wet and gloomy, and he, in com- pany with Ms friend Mr Palmer, who had been his companion at Hyeres, sailed for Madeira in the month of October. While at Madeira he executed Ms settlements on the 1st January 1861. Writing to Mr Earle from Madeira, on 10th April 1861, he says— •' I have got on exceedingly well through the whole season — at least keeping my ground, and working with some degree of steadiness. My Egyptian volume is now almost quite clone ; and when I reach England, I hope, after a good revisal, to be ready to go to press. The only thing I feel sure about it is, that it will not to anybody, or intrinsically, repre- sent the amount of labour it has cost me. We are looking forward to flight, and have arranged the mode. At one time o\ir plan was to make for the Canary Islands, and thence by the coast of Africa to the south of Spain ; but a hitch as to the steamboats has obliged us to give up this on the present occasion, although I do so reluctantly, as I am anxious to learn something of the Guanche antiquities at Tenerifle. Wo have now fixed to sail direct to England about the 18th of May ; and before the end of that month I hope to be at home, where I shall speedily expect towel- come you, to get the light of your countenance, and the benefit nf vmn experience, as to the killed shrubs, before going to see the results of your labours in your own vineyard." In the end of May he reached his residence at Down House, where 32 MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY RHIND. he spent the summer. In the beginning of September Mr Palmer came to visit him with the view of concerting plans for again spending the ensuing winter together in a warmer climate. On the . second day after his arrival Mr Palmer was unexpectedly seized by haemorrhage of the lungs. Writing to Mr Earle on the 11th Sept., Mr Ehind says — " Alas ! alas ! there is anything in view but a visit to you this week. Poor Palmer came to me this day week looking wretchedly ill ; and the night after but one he appeared at my bedside (at half-past two in the morning) coughing violently from haemorrhage, and begging for help. Happily I had the needful appliances at hand. I got him to bed, and sat with Mm until we got a surgeon, before whose arrival the bleeding ceased." Mr Palmer's death was thus announced to Mr Earle on the 20th September : — " My last letter would prepare you for our poor friend's illness taking the worst turn. And so it has been. He went calmly to his rest yesterday morning." Mr Ehind again returned to Madeira for the winter of 1862. He thus writes to Mr Earle on 3d January 1862 — " I have settled down into the kind of fossil life which I followed (and which the nature of the place compels one to follow) last year. I am oc- cupying the same rooms, meeting very many of the same people, revolving in my morning rides in the same narrow circles, which the bounding hills prescribe, and altogether feeling as if I had never left the island. There is a lamentable want of variety and life in this exile — that is undeniable. Indoors, of course, one has one's occupations ; but the want of interesting objects, and, to some extent, of interesting people outside, makes what ought to be the pleasantest part of the day, often the least so. In the house in which I am staying, and which has some seventeen guests, we are, as to personnel, in some respects worse, in some respects better off, than last year. Of course the larger number of the people are simply of nega- tive characteristics ; and if we have none who are actually treasures, neither have we any — and it is something to say of a miscellaneous house- hold — that are positively obnoxious. One -half are Germans ; and as I have a general liking for their race, I am glad of the interim, and live. MEMOIR OF A.LEXAHDEU HENRY IMIIND. 33 "Two of our .set are very ,u r ,,o>l specimens in various ways ; but being Northerns (Sleswig men), and rather out of the way of the literary activity of Germany, they are not such ' full men 1 — to use Bacon's phras* — as their countrymen of corresponding position and education sometimes are." " I am looking forward with some degree of pleasure to my spring move. My plan is to sail for Teneriffe at the first of April, to spend three weeks or a month there, looking up the ( ruanche antiquities ; and then to make for Seville, by way of Cadiz, at the beginning of May. I should hope to spend a month pleasantly in and about Seville, and then to return to Eng- land, either by Lisbon or Gibraltar." About six weeks later in the season (15th February) Mr Rhind wrote to me from Madeira. The following passage in his letter shows how he kindled up at any plan for elucidating native antiquities : — " I saw in an Aberdeen paper, which was sent to me by the last mail, a report of your Spalding Club meeting. The account of what had been accomplished, and what was contemplated, seemed very satisfactory. The plan which you seem yet to keep partly in abeyance, I think is well worthy of every consideration — 1 mean following up the Sculptured Stones by a somewhat similar exemplification of the historical architecture of the north-east of Scotland. There never is likely to be such an opportunity as that offered by the united effort of a Club like the Spalding, for con- structing a corpus of the historico-ethnographical materials of the northern counties — a work which, as well as appealing to our national feelings, must have a somewhat unexpected scientilic value, from the evidence to be afforded as to the character of development in a comparatively isolated region. . The mediaeval chartulary, and similar social illustrations, are one part of such a corpus ; the sculptured stones notably another ; the house- hold, castellated, and ecclesiastical architecture would be another \ and 1 have for some time thought of suggesting to you one more, and yel an earlier link, to be taken up when the sculptured stones were finished, and illustrated by the same process of collocation and embodiment of thoroughly trustworthy facts and illustrations. What 1 mean is, a series of representations of a large number of the prominent and typical early vestiges of the northern counties — the bill forts, the circlea and other ortholithic erections, the eirde houses and Picts' Houses, the cairns and barrows, and the relies of stone, metal, and day found in connection with them. The interest of such an exemplification of the primeval Btate of c 34 MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY RHIND. our northern home, we can readily picture ; and to produce such a monu- ment, fairly adjusted and apportioned, is a work such as a hody like the Spalding Club is well calculated to accomplish, and it is worthy of an effort to achieve. To prevent its too exclusively absorbing the funds of the Club, I should think there would he little difficidty in organising an adequate auxiliary fund, to he subscribed to by volunteers, of whom I would gladly be one. I do hope you will think of this as favourably as I do, and keep the matter in view." He adds — " I am just correcting the last sheets of my Theban book. What re- ception the volume may meet with I can hardly guess ; but at any rate I have not spared labour upon it. To find that it should meet with some degree of success would naturally, of course, be pleasant, after first toiling to gather the materials for it in Egypt, and then grinding them into shape Avith an amount of labour which it is perhaps as well the result should not show. In Edinburgh I hope it will find some readers, who may already have been interested in the relics in the Museum, which part of it describes." This volume, on which Mr Bhind expended so much thought and labour, was soon afterwards published with the title, " Thebes, its Tombs and their Tenants Ancient and Present, including a Eecord of Excavations in the Necropolis." It contains eleven chapters, the first of which is devoted to the general history of Thebes ; the second de- scribes the Necropolis as one of the most remarkable in the world; the third gives the result of former sepulchral researches ; the fourth describes the unrifled tomb of a Theban dignitary and its contents, portions of which were of an unusual character, and others unique ; the fifth gives an account of a burial-place of the poor ; the sixth records excavations among tombs of the kings, and of various grades ; the seventh is devoted to the theories explanatory of Egyptian sepul- ture ; the eighth to the sepulchral evidence of early metallurgic practice ; the ninth points out how the demand for Egyptian relics has been supplied, and its influence on the condition of the monu- MEMOIR OF A.LEXANDER IIKXKY I:IIIM>. 60 ments ; the tenth furnishes an account of the present tenants of the tombs; and the eleventh continues the account of these tenants and of their rulers. The volume is illustrated by plates of the more remarkable objects. In the preface Mr Rhind explains the delay which had occurred in the appearance of the volume; one reason for which was, his hope of being able to collect a farther series of sepulchral details in other parts of the country. " But the chief cause of the delay has been that, believing any W< ak intended for publication to be entitled to at least such advantages as time and care may give, the demand for both in this case has been increased by the breaches in continuous progress involved in the circumstances of a lengthened annual absence abroad. Even now I have had to correct the proofs of two-thirds of these sheets about fifteen hundred miles from England." Mr Rhind is here silent on the subject of interruptions arising from serious illnesses, which at times reduced him to an extreme state of weakness, and permanently disabled him from anything beyond a restricted amount of daily exertion. On the 5th May Mr Rhind wrote to me from Gibraltar — "I spent rather more than three weeks in various parts of the island of Teneriffe, but chiefly in the beautiful valley of Orotava, to which Hum- boldt gave the palm for beauty, even in comparison with all the scenery of the Cordilleras, which he had traversed. I much enjoyed my sojourn there, and in Teneriffe generally. The weather was magnificent, and t la- climate generally seems to promise so well for a winter, that 1 am at present minded to return there next year. The facilities of communica tion with Europe form one considerable inducement, there being sis or seven steamers every month. The drawback is the very indifferenl accom modation. Another motive to go back is, to investigate a little more fully the relics of the Guanches, the ancient population which the Spaniards found in possession, at the conquest, tOO years ago. Their condition offers some interesting analogies with that of the primeval races of 36 MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY RHIND. Europe, &c. ; and what 1 have already been able to learn on the subject, makes me desirous to have some opportunity of knowing more. To leave Teneriffe, I took advantage of a mercantile steamer that was to make a long detour, which promised some novelty. We touched first at another of the Canaries, La Palma, and then at another, Lanzarote — the first mountainous and of considerable beauty ; the last also mountainous, but arid from want of water. Our next point was Mogador, on the coast of Morocco, where we lay two days. This town has all the curious oriental characteristics ; but being comparatively new, and having been built as a commercial depot, it wants much of the picturesqueness of the ancient Muslim cities. From Mogador we coasted northwards, looking in at three other Barbary towns — Mazagan, Darel Baees, and Tangier — and arriving here on Friday night, after a pleasant voyage of nine days. In four and twenty hours I hope to be again under way, as my object is to reach Seville on the 8th, and to stay there until the end of the month. About the beginning of the second week in June, I hope to be at home." Among Mr Ehind's papers I found a very careful account of Teneriffe, with minute details of its products and resources. It is a mere fragment, however, and does not touch on the antiquities of the island, his observations on these being probably reserved till after the second visit which he projected. Mr Ehind resumed his residence at Down House, where he spent the summer of 1862. In the autumn he was again prostrated by an attack of illness, of which he wrote to me from Clifton on the 20th September. He had arranged to part with his lease of Down House at this time, with the intention of selecting for next season a more sheltered residence in the same neighbourhood. In the letter just referred to he writes — " I have decided to turn my face to Egypt again for the coming winter. I sail for Malta from Southampton on the 4th of next month. Early in November I hope to be once more on the Nile. In spring, according to my present plans, I make for Corfu ; and, if strength permits, I intend to get about among the Greek islands for six or eight weeks, with an eye to early vestiges." Before he left England, Mr Ehind executed a codicil to his settle- MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY KIIIND. 37 ment, by which he transferred from the University of Edinburgh to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland his endowment of a Pro- fessorship of Archaeology. His reasons are fully stated in that document, which is printed in the Appendix to this Memoir. Mr Eliind reached Egypt in safety, and speedily began a series of systematic observations on the Nile and its deposits. His purpose is thus expressed in a paper found among his notes, which may have been intended as a preface to the volume, which he meant to pre- pare under the title of " The Nile Valley in Eelation to Chronology." " This work will, with other materials, contain the result of observa- tions made during a voyage devoted to tracing the operations of the Nile for 1000 miles of its course from the second Cataract to the sea. Among the facts embodied are the depth of water ; rate of current ; amount of sediment ; constituents of alluvium and of sand ; these, and other conditions being classified with reference to the respective points in the river's course. Side by side with such data, showing tire Nile's mode of action, will be given the various evidences according to their locality of what it has accomplished. Among such evidences are measure- ments indicating the position of the ancient monuments in relation to the river and the alluvium, and traces of fluviatile action on or near the mountains of the valley. It will be shown from terrace marks in the hills, and the presence of alluvial deposits and river shells at levels high above the present water range, that in its earlier career the Nile was a destructive stream, wearing out its bed where its subsequent work has been to build it up. " In reviewing the changes which have occurred during the historical period, it will be shown with reference to Lower Nubia and Upper Egypt, that the facts require a different explanation from either of the two most current hypotheses, viz. : — the assumed scooping out of the bed of the river between Semneh and Assouan, or the bursting of a barrier at the rocks of Silsilis. As to Lower Egypt, including the Delta, the subject of the rate of alluvial deposit will be investigated and the value examined of the proofs it may afford as to the antiquity of man's presence." The following letter to Mr Earle, written from La Majolica, on the Lake of Como, on the 8th of .lime L863, is valuable, from its pre- 38 MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY RHIND. .serving a detailed account of Mr Khind's proceedings during the previous winter : — " I do not doubt that, from some of my Clifton friends, you will have long ago learned that there has heen only too good reason why I have not replied to your letter, which came to me in Egypt just at the very time of my overthrow. I longed to write to you, hut I was unwilling to use another's hand, and I feel that you will forgive me for delaying until I could myself, as it were, speak to you face to face, if it be hut a word or two. " I spent the winter on the Nile pleasantly, and as to health improv- ingly. But I could not resist getting involved in interesting work, which I could not always keep within proper hounds. The main part of my time was given to investigating the operations of the river and the growth of the alluvium, with reference to the monuments. I began and carried out the work systematically for 1000 miles of the river's course, and had brought my notes and collections into such form, that I had communi- cated with the Longmans to announce a volume on ' The Nile Valley in relation to Chronology.' When I reached Cairo, I fear I was more dili- gent mentally and bodily than a due calculation of contingencies war- • ranted ; and one or two detrimental causes having fallen upon me un- towardly together, I was prostrated by a sharp attack of haemorrhage from the lung. I had a weary confinement at Cairo — another at Alexandria. I have been reduced and enfeebled miserably. But yet the necessities of escaping from the heat of the south obliged me to start first for Corfu, which did not at all suit me, and then to journey on until I could halt at this beautiful lake. A week's quiet here has done me some good ; but my exhausted condition of frame, I cannot but see, leaves it doubtful whether the turn of the balance shall be upwards or down. Guided as it will be by the same hand, it will be for me to accept trustfully whatever result the Father bestows. " In a few days more I hope to make a start to cross the Alps, probably by the Spliigen, and to journey, if I am able, to England by sIoav stages, arriving about the end of the month. " By the way, I had another piece of work in the Avinter, which, if it please God that we meet, I should like to have your help with, as it is in your special line of country. I made a vocabulary, and endeavoured to disentangle the grammar of two Nubian dialects, which till now have wanted such exposition. In process of the work I came upon several, and even important facts. MEMOIB OF AIiEXANDER HENKY KHIXb. .".'. I " But, alas! who shall say whether these, and the results of my Nile labours, shall uot now return again to chaos. At present I cannot even think consecutively of, much less work at either." A letter to me from the .same place, written oh the 5th June, gives much the same account of himself as that just quoted, bu1 with rather less detail. One passage in it may be quoted, to show how warmly he clung to the recollection of old friends. " In turning over the stranger's book, I saw that limes spent some time in this house last summer. It reminds me to beg you to remember un- to him, and to Eobertson. My Cain's doom, I fear, is nearly fatal to my retaining a place in the recollection of friends." He adds — " I had not closed this an hour, when a messenger from Coma broughl me a packet of letters, including yours of the 1st. I feel much your kind remembrance and sympathy. I have not said much about myself in this letter ; but you avUI infer that my condition hangs, as it were, in a balance, and the turn may be to either side. It is for me to bow to the will of the Father, whether His hand shall lead into the sunshine or into the valley of the shadow." Mr Ehind's friends could not but be alarmed at such accounts of his health, but he had so often been raised up from a state of great prostration in previous times that hope was not extinguished. The next accounts, however, brought the intelligence that the end had come, and that the feeble flicker of life had now been extinguished. It was an end serene and beautiful, — in complete unison witli the life which preceded it. He literally " fell asleep." The circumstances are detailed in the following letter from Mr I {hind's servant, James Fisher, written to Mr Earlo, from Zurich on the 3d of July : — " You will, I know, be very sony to hear thai poor Mr Hhind is no more; he died sleeping during the night. STesterdaj he took a •10 MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY RHIND. drive, but the heat was so great that he suffered much from it, and complained of being very tired and fatigued when we got back ; and so he determined to go early to bed, and, as he had had a very bad night the previous one, he thought he should be able to sleep better, feeling so tired. At half-past ten I found he was sleeping com- fortably. I had to give him some milk, if he awoke during the night, but, as he did not move, I still considered him to be sleeping. I looked at him several times this morning without going near him, thinking I would not wake him ; but at last I stepped quietly up to the bedside, and, to my great horror, found he had ceased to breathe. He must have died without the least struggle — he had not moved his head from the pillow. " I believe he has written to you since he was first attacked with hgemoptysis at Cairo on the 30th of March. Since then he has never got much stronger ; and although from a three weeks' stay on the Lake of Como he got a very little better, he got worse again by the four days' journey from there to here." Mr Ehind's body was brought from Zurich, and interred in the family burying-ground in the parish churchyard of Wick, on the 13th of July. Shortly before the execution of his settlements, in January 1861, Mr Khind left a letter to his executors, dated 30th November 1860, in which he gave instructions for the completion of his work on the Tombs at Thebes, in the event of his own death before he should have been able to bring it out. He also directed them, in that event, to provide funds for the completion of a volume, containing Fac-similes of two remarkable Bilingual Papyri found by him at Thebes, then in progress, under the charge of Dr Birch, keeper of Oriental Antiquities in the British Museum. This volume was all but finished at the time of his death, and has since been issued with the following title, " Fac-similes of Two Papyri found in a Tomb at MEMOIB OF ALEXANDER HENRY KIIIND. 41 Thebes, with a Translation by Samuel Birch, LL.l >., &c. ; and an Account of their Discovery, by A. Henry Rhind, Esq., F.S.A., &c. Lund. 1863." The notes of Mr Rhind's observations and soundings of the Nik', during the early part of 1863, were found among his papers after his death ; but it did not appear that he had completed any part of the volume, of which these were to form the groundwork. While, therefore, these notes could not be printed as a whole, I have thought it right to give in the Appendix extracts containing his observations on the deposits and current of the Nile at Thebes and Memphis, not merely as presenting a remarkable picture of his energetic character and active mind, but as evidences of that thoroughness and patience in the pursuit of truth which characterised all his labours, and which, now animated him to encounter this long-sustained inquiry at a time of great bodily weakness. One passage in his observations at Memphis appears very remark- able, not only as a token of his continued appreciation of the value of excavations on historical sites, but also as a testimony to the extent of still unexplored ground in Egypt. " Deep excavations at Memphis might therefore be very important, as well in a historical as a physical point of view. But, in truth, through- out all Egypt it may be said, that all that has as yet been done in the way of excavation is little more than mere scratching, and the vastnesa of the mine makes us wonder whether it will ever be thoroughly explored." It will have been seen that thoroughness was the predominating feature of his character, and that it entered into all his pursuits. The study of antiquities with Mr Rhind was a very different (lung from the mere gratification of a taste; whether in the Valley of the Nile, or among the moors of his native Caithness, his search was always for authentic facts and objects, which he reckoned of value 42 MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY RHIND. only iii their relation to the history of man's progress ; and while he had every facility and temptation to form a private Museum for himself, he, from the first, subordinated all his inquiries to public ends, and placed every object which he could discover or acquire in a public collection, where classification and accessibility might render them of real and permanent value. Ever since Mr Ehind became a Member of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, he has devoted his energies and resources to further its objects and secure its permanency. There has been no important step in its progress during the last ten years, in which I cannot trace his influence more or less directly. He was often prostrated by attacks of severe illness, but the earliest of his returning powers were devoted to the furtherance of some work in which the progress of Archaeology and the position of the Society were involved ; and while Mr Ehind contributed much to its prosperity in his lifetime, the well-considered bequests with which he has enriched it, show the hearty regard for its welfare which he maintained to the last. From these it will be seen, that he has left to the Society his valuable library, which, after the elimination (suggested by himself,) of a class of works of a miscellaneous character, not bearing on the objects of the Society, will still amount to above 1600 volumes, some of them of great rarity and value. He has left to it a sum of L.400, " to be expended on practical archaeological excavations in the north-eastern portion of Scotland, where the remains are mostly unknown to the general student, are often in good preservation, and, from ethnographical reasons, are likely to afford important information." He gives to the Society the copywright of his work, " Thebes, its Tombs and their Tenants," and after providing for the foundation and endow- ment of an institution at Wick for the industrial training of young women from certain parishes in the county of Caithness; the founda- tion of two Scholarships in the University of Edinburgh, and many MEMOIB OF ALEXANDER HENRY RHIND. 43 other bequests of a private character, he has left the residue of his estate of Sibster for the endowment of a Professor or Lecturer on Archaeology in connection with this Society, and has committed its management to the Council, with mam practical directions and suggestions, which show how well the subject had been previousl) considered by him. The last bequest may ultimately yield a sum of about L.7000, but is not available during the lifetime of Mr Bremner, to whom the liferent right of Sibster is left. It has been a great solace to me to gather up these memorials of our departed friend ; but I would not have felt it right to intrude them at such length on the Society if it had not given me the opportunity of preserving many of Mr Rhind's observations and opinions on archaeological points, which are of a more general and enduring interest than the mere utterances of private friendship. From the feelings which have been expressed to me, I believe thai the members would have felt regret if some such record of the life of one, who has proved so great a benefactor to the Society, had not been preserved, and I cannot doubt, that those who succeed us will he glad to know something of one whose benefactions will bear fruit so long as the Society lasts. In looking back to the short and bright career of Mr Rhind, it is instructive to observe how much earnest and laborious work he was able to achieve. At the time of his death he had not attained his thirtieth year, and during the portion of his life in which he carried on his historical pursuits, his health was at all times precarious, and often prostrated by severe attacks of illness. Instead, however, of resigning himself to the solaces often necessary, and always capti- vating to invalids, but which tend rather to enervate than to brace to any great exertion, Mr Rhind pursued his studies with an equable and unbroken ardour — resuming the thread where il had been broken by an attack of illness, and gathering from every country, whithi r 44 MEMOIR OF ALEXANDER HENRY RHIND. the varying necessities of health carried him, fresh materials fur observation and study. Wherever he went Mr Khind acquired new friends. To all, his sweetness and unselfishness, his warm and sympathetic nature, could not but be attractive, while to those who could appreciate them, the treasures of his active and-well stored mind formed an additional tie and charm. A remarkable feature of Mr Ehind's character was his unvarying- cheerfulness. He had many alarming illnesses, but he never fretted or became impatient, although for the time he had to abandon some engrossing pursuit. He carried on his labours under a constant sense of his precarious tenure of life, but was never disheartened by it — eager and hopeful while engaged in his favourite pursuits, but implicitly trustful and resigned when warned that he must abandon them. To his unruffled calmness in every contingency we doubtless owe the prolongation of his days, and the many works crowded into a little space, for he seemed to realize the poet's words. Not enjoyment and not sorrow Is our destined end or way, But to act, that each to-morrow Find us further than to-day. While, therefore, we cannot but mourn the early removal of such a friend and associate as Mr Ehind, we mingle with our sorrow admiration of his noble and unselfish character, and cherish as a precious bequest the example of his bright and earnest career. JOHN STUART. APPENDIX THE NILE VALLEY IN RELATION TO CHRONOLOGY. The following extracts from Mr Rhind's MSS., contain his observations and soundings on the Nile at Thebes and Memphis : — " Thebes, 5th February (1863.) — The soundings to-day across the river, abreast of the temple of Luxor E. 19. 19. 24. 27. 27. 22. 20. 1G. 10. 10. 8. W. Here comes an island and another channel which contains water to middle of January. " The extreme height of the alluvium, or indeed mound above water to-day at the Quay, at south-west corner of temple of Luxor, 20 feet. The pavement of the temple 2*6 below this; therefore 17*6 above water. "Examined the Shekh (11th February) whose duty it is to note the rise of the river. The appointment, like most others, has been hereditary, and lias been long in his family. He himself a man apparently 63 or 65. In the Quay beneath the temple of Luxor, there is a projecting stone, which, in measuring the height of the waters, is reckoned as being 16 drah; that is, theoretically, 16 drah above the lowest Nile, and from all memory has been so held. 1 From this point, therefore, the Shekh begins 1 It would seem, however, that there must he some inaccuracy in this, for, as the facts on the opposito page show, the stone counted 17 drah was 1() feci from the surface of the water, and 17 drah is as nearly as may he ;!'_'. Now the dei peal soundings on tho 5th in the channel, being 27 feet, the 10 feet up U> the 17 ilnih point hcing added, gives 37. So that if tho Shekh's measure starts from low Nile, 46 APPENDIX. to count, and each tier of stone in the quay thereafter is counted as a drah, to which the breadth nearly approximates, namely, about 22 J inches. 1 Two tiers of stones, above that counted 16 drah, only now remain, some of the upper ones (two or three) having within a few years been removed ; on measuring from that counted 1 7 drah to the surface of the water to-day, I found it 1 feet above. According to the Shekh, the Nile rose this (i.e. 1862) year 2 Of 2 drah. This, calculated from the above data, would make it to have been within 1 foot 4 inches of the level of the pavement of the temple. The very high Nile of 1861 was accounted 22f drah, or about 3 '9 higher, which would and did flood the temple by more than 2 feet. On making an excavation at this corner of the temple, I found that the foundation being upon hard impacted alluvium, went down about 8 feet 3 below the level of the pavement. This excavation showed large stones laid regularly at right angles to the wall, and stretching out about 8 feet. At the end of them were some broken fragments of sculptured blocks and others, so that this had pro- bably been part of a building, like a stairs or communication made when the quay was constructed, which is not more than about 50 feet from the temple. " Shekh Yusuf (he of the water) stated further, that such a Nile as this year is considered fair. But 2 1 drah is necessary to be a good Nile, Neither of these figures, however, cover all the cultivable land, and about 22 or more is necessary for that. In 1861 the whole was inundated, but he had only four times in his life seen this ; in the year (of the (ISIS) (1S30) (1840) (18G2 ? 1) Hegira) 1233—1245—1256—1278. He has known Niles of 18 and 1 9 drah, and has seen ten or twelve years or more at different times, when none, or almost none, of the land was covered. In fact the inundations which naturally command all the alluvium, are here rare. These re- marks, derived from Shekh Yusuf s information, it will be observed, relate to the Luxor side. " The set of the current is on and towards the Luxor side. Its rate, about 80 yards from the bank, was (on 16th February) 100 feet in 22", it gives only 5 feet as the then depth, and there would therefore be water in only a very narrow channel. 1 Some of the lower ones, however, I find to be 20 and 21 inches. 2 It is worth noting, that at merely special points, the rise of the inundation would vary within periods, according to the changes made in the canals. For example, the cutting of some large ones, a carrying off the water which was formerly to the river's channel, would influence the rise within a given distance below. APPENDIX. 47 being the mean of two trials respectively 20" and 24*. In the middle of the river, 300 yards further out, the rate was LOO feet in 38*. •• X.D. — The rate at which the inundation rises and falls would be an interesting point. It certainly must be in very different ratios at different periods. On the 4th of February I had a mark made at level of water on a stone in the quay at Luxor, and on the lGth I found that the water had only fallen 4 inches and a fraction (say 4£), which would give only at the rate of less than a foot a month. If this were a constanl ratio, it would only give a fall of 8 feet during the period of the sub- sidence of the river, whereas more than 30 feet (?) have to be accounted for, that being the annual rise here. I think there is reason to believe that the rise at Thebes, instead of 36, as stated by Wilkinson, cannot be more than 25 or 26. See on. " I noted a fact which confirms the Shekh's statement as to the rela- tions of the inundations to the land ; opposite Karnak, on that side, the bank is cut by the river into a steep face. The land here between the temple and the river all stands on the level represented by this bank. I found it on the 14th February to be 21 feet 2 inches above the water. Xow, calculating from the former data as to the quay, and allowing a difference of 3 inches (according to note above) for the fall in the river as betAveen the dates of the observation here and at the quay, it will be seen that the Xile of 1802 would not have been within 3 feet 5 inches of the top of the bank, while that of 1861 would just have covered it by 7 or 8 inches. When this was the case here, other parts of the plain which are lower would be covered to the depth of 2 or 3 feet, or more ; but I found it impossible to obtain precise information showing how this was. Another analogous fact I found, by measuring the depth from the surface of the ground to the surface of the water, in a pit dug for drawing water by shadoofs, about one-third of the way from Luxor to Karnak, and about half a mile from the river. The surrounding land here stands apparently about the same level as that in front of Karnak, at the river where the bank, as above mentioned, was measured. Here likewise the inundation did not reach last year. Accordingly, on measuring to the surface of the water in the pit, 1 found that it was nearly 21 feet below the surface of the ground in the morning, before the shadoofs were set to work ; and this doubtless represents the level of the Nile, for the water in wells ting in the alluvium stands, when undisturbed, as nearly as may he at the height of tin- river. Iii (lie pit here referred to, which was about 8 feel in diameter, at 20 feet deep, I found that by twelve o'clock, wlimi the 48 APPENDIX. shadoofs had been working all the morning, the level of the water was lowered by 4 J feet ; but this, or any further diminution, was soon made good by the ooze, when the drawing by the shadoofs ceased for some hours, and the point already mentioned was reached in the morning ; of course the level varies with the rise and fall of the river. It would seem, and the point is interesting with regard to ancient towns, that everywhere the Nile oozes through its alluvium to a height very nearly corresponding with its level for the time being. For example, in the plain behind Karnak, there are several depressions, like small dry lakes, perhaps a fourth of an acre less or more in extent, and 8 or 1 feet below the level of the surrounding ground. From the Fellaheen, who farmed there, I learnt that these fill up to a certain height by ooze, as the river rises, even when the inundation is not sufficiently high to bring water into them from the surface by the flooding from the canals. " As to wells or shafts sunk for water in the alluvium near the edge of the desert, the conditions are different. I examined several so situated on the Goorneh side. In one pit, near Kass E Eeebayk, which was cut down through the 3 or 4 feet of superimposed alluvium, and then through the partially concreted sand and pebbles of the desert, I found the water at mid-day 1 5 feet below the level of the surrounding ground, and in the morning, before the shadoofs begin to work, it stands 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet higher. Here, however, the supply came from the de- sert, and at or about the point at which the water stands in the morning, that is about 1 2 feet below the surface of the ground, a little rill pours in from the side of the pit next the desert. I was told that here, and in others similarly circumstanced, the water, although the supply varies, does not rise and fall in correspondence with the Nile. I measured two others between this and the Memnonium, which are of small diameter, and of the nature of draw-wells, into which buckets descend, and I found the water to be about 14 feet and 13 J respectively below the surface level. As the covering of alluvium over the desert is not very thick here, the height of the water in those wells will probably depend upon the supply from the desert. If it were not so, or if other wells existed somewhat further out in the alluvium, in which the water, being ooze from the Nile, would stand approximated at its level, the measurement from the surface of the water in them, to the surface of the ground above, would have been a ready means of showing whether the land here is on the same level, or lower than nearer the river. The plain of Thebes, in relation to the Nile, may be held to be in most respects a fair representative of the state of the case generally throughout APPENDIX. 49 Upper and Middle Egypt, and the details which it offers ate more pointed and indicative from the presence of some of the monuments in very sig- nificant positions. In the tirst place, a glance at the map will readilj show the main features. The valley, at the point where it Is net first to note it with reference to the Thehan plain — the vulley here, thai is, aboul three miles south of Luxor, is somewhat narrowed, the distance from mountain to mountain being perhaps from six to eighl miles. Prom this breadth, however, it immediately expands as Thebes is approached, and the measurement across, in aline with the ruins of Karnak. would nol be much less than twelve miles, of which three-fourths may be allowed for the river, three for the alluvium on the Goorneh side, six for that on the Karnak side, counting both at their broadest, and from two fco three for the low slopes of the desert at the foot of the mountains on both sides. The course of the river, in flowing through this part of the valley, is some- what oblicpie, which generally characterises its line of progress through the lower country, as it winds from one reach to another. At t lie s. mt hern point, about three miles above Luxor, already specified, its channel nearly approaches the eastern desert, but presently trending towards the opposite side, it sweeps up to the western desert six miles lower down. The plain is thus cut into two unecpial portions, of which that upon the Goorneh side is less than half of the other. Besides the main channel, it is necessary, from their influence on the irrigation, also to notice those lateral offshoots from it which, for about six months of the year, form three islands situated respectively above Luxor, opposite Luxor, and in front of Karnak. The former of these, or rather the channel which insulates it, is the most important. Indeed, there is reason to believe, from the direc- tion of the ancient cpiay at the south-west corner of the temple of Luxor, which now abuts upon this channel, that at one time the main stream may have flowed in very nearly the same line. But supposing that to have been the case, the channel in cpiestion, like so many other parts of the river, has been the subject of changes since. In the first place, it must have become a subsidiary branch; and, again, it has cut with a deeper curve northwards, so that its sweep is now behind the line of the quay ; and its tendency appears to have been to enlarge its bed. I hit within t he last fifteen or twenty years it is stated by residents to he conveying less water than formerly, some silting up, or change of current, at the point where it branches oil' from the main stream, directing no doubl more of t he water into the latter. Alterations of this kind are almost everywhere, and always going on. This channel, however, is still an important oneal high Nile, although nearly dry al the end of February ; and from it inn the i) 50 APPENDIX. lines of several canals, which, although with one or two exceptions now old and inefficient, help to bring the waters of the inundations over large portions of the plain. A reference to the plan will readily show how the canal system operates to accomplish this. Skirting the edge of the desert may first be observed the line of one large canal, intended to benefit an extensive district. Its mouth, whence it receives its supply as the river rises, is a few miles above the plain of Thebes ; and it fringes the culti- vated land as far as Koos, a distance of some twenty miles, whence down- wards other similar works carry on the same purpose. Embanked on the desert side it throws the inundation forward on the plain, and its chan- nel being suitably sluiced towards its lower extremity, the waters may be dammed up, so that even with a moderate Nile the land is flooded. This canal, which irrigates all the back district of the Theban plain, has been cut within the last few years. Till then, that is, referring to modern times, the work was done less efficiently by smaller conduits, of which I have inserted one in the plan, being that which is now mainly operative in irrigating the ground towards the centre of the plain, too far from the large canal to be within its influence. This conduit canal enters from the channel already described. It winds, often with a very serpentine course, to the eastward of Karnak, or in the direction of Medamoot, and, being embanked on both sides, it is made to convey the water through breaches in the dikes over the fields on either hand. In this way the main area of the plain between Karnak and the desert is, except with a very low Nile, annually irrigated. For the immediate neighbourhood of Karnak, and the tract between it and the river, a cer- tain provision to facilitate the rise of the water has been made by some small canals brought up more or less obliquely from the river ; but it is only with what they call a very good JSTile that they are of much use. In fact, all the space lying along the margin of the river, from Luxor to Karnak, and the district about and in front of Karnak, have, it may be said, not more than the natural irrigation to depend upon, and are inun- dated only when the Mle itself clears its banks. The rarity with which this effectually occurs may be inferred from the fact already stated, that only four times within the last forty-five years has the whole cultivable land, situated as above described, been covered by the water. On the Goorneh side the irrigation is now chiefly effected by one large canal, which, entering at Erment, runs on to Gamoola. The portion of the plain between it and the river has principally to depend for its inun- dation upon the rise of the latter, and as a certain breadth of the land here is on a gradual slope to the water, a large part of it is usually covered APPENDIX. 51 every year. Winn, however, this upward .slope ends in the level which represents the high ground in the plain, this, just as on the Karnak side, is above the reach of the ordinary overflow, and this year a considerable strip along the dike of the canal was not Hooded — that is, the height of the Nile could not reach it. Between the canal and the desert, however, the land was abundantly overflowed ; and it must be a very low .Nile indeed with which this could not be accomplished; for on its eastern margin the canal is embanked to a height of from 8 to 10 feet, so as to throw the water forward. In the plain so treated are the Colossi, and the buried substructures of three temples ; and on the line where it bounds with the desert stand the great ruins of Medineet Haboo, the Memnoniuni, and Kasr E Rubayk Each and all of these are now subjected in different degrees to the inun- dations. The Colossi are surrounded by it, the substructures of the three temples are covered by it, and a high Nile, such as that of 1861, en- croaches upon the others which have been named- In Kasr E Uubayk the water that year stood to a height of about 2 feet. Not only are these vestiges now subject to the range of the inundation, but, as a natural consequence, the alluvium has encroached upon them in varying degrees, according to their position. The Colossi, which of these monuments stand the most forward in the plain, have at various times (?) been examined with reference to this encroachment ; and it has been found that the alluvium now stands 6 feet 1 inches above the pavement of the avenue which passed between them. The highest water-mark upon them was likewise shown to be about 10 inches above the alluvium ; ami since the cutting of the new canal it is higher still — the water having, with the ordinary Nile of this year, gained fully one foot beyond this point, while in 1861, according to the accounts I received, it was fully 2 feet more, making in all a height of nearly 1 1 feet above the pavement. Now, in the first place, it may fairly be assumed, that when the temple (whose substructures are now covered by the soil) was built, to which this avenue led, neither it nor the statues which adorned the approach to it were likely to be so placed that the annual inundation would ilood them. Hut. on the other hand, the extent, to which this now occurs, and the thick ness of the superincumbent alluvium, can give no general criterion as to the results of the river's operation in the interval. For first, It will be seen how much the presence of the irrigal ion. and consequently the growth of alluvium, is under the inlluenco of artificial means. Second, It cannot he known wdiethcr, by dikes or other contrivances which may have long been in use to proteci Thebes as a city beforethe Colossi were raised, the 02 APPENDIX. inundations had been so far kept out that their site may at that time have been under the level that otherwise would have been subject to the natural operations of the river, and that, therefore, when these were allowed play when Thebes decayed, the alluvium soon increased here in a greater than its normal ratio. Third, Or conversely, we do not know how far above the normal line of alluvium the level of the pavement may have been at the time of its construction, and therefore we cannot say whether the present alluvium above it represents the whole increase since then or not. Fourth, There is no possibility of learning what may have been from time to time, since the fall of Thebes, the varying system of agriculture, and particularly of irrigation here, — whether, at certain periods, there may not have been such canals as that recently made on the one hand, or, on the other, inferior arrangements, which would have made the inundations over this ground, and therefore the deposit, be greater or less at different times, and so frustrate all calculation as to rate of increase. " Memphis, March 8, Bedushayn. — The alluvial valley, from the river to the edge of the desert, may be about 4 miles broad, and the mounds of Memphis, covering a vast space, lie about midway across. The irrigation of the land, which seems very completely effected, is mainly accomplished from the Bahr Yousef, which is dammed up at a bridge, as described in the previous case. Minor channels and dikes are brought into play to spread the waters ; and these channels, which often have the character of new depressions, deprive the valley here, as in most cases where it is broad, of a dead-level appearance, and irregularities, with water resting in hollows, frequently present themselves. The irrigation of the back district, being independent of the Nile's local rise, it may be said never fails ; but the tract immediately along the bank, perhaps half a mile or more wide, was not overflowed this year. And the bank here, over which the water did not pass, was 1 7 feet 1 inches above the water to-day. The ground about the mounds of Memphis is certainly not so high, according to what seems to be the principle that the valley towards the desert is lower : and, indeed, there are tracts of the back district here (not however immediately around Memphis) which are not on a higher level than 8 or 1 feet above the surface of water still left in the canals. I measured one well west from Memphis (about a quarter of a mile), in which the water was barely 8 feet below the average surrounding surface, In the mounds of the town, the old brick houses, or substructures of the lower ones, are sometimes seen in strata, as it were, of different heights, showing the growth of one age succeeding another. The Only point offering some record of the progress of the alluvium here is beside the APPENDIX. 53 prostrate colossal statue of Ramses II. The excavation of the nature of a trench, which had been made to disclose it, had uncovered at its feet the Lower portion of a building, being either part of a pedestal on which it may have stood, or of a structure with which it had been connected. This huilding, so far as ii is discernible, consists of two courses of massive stones, tin' upper being laid a few baches within the perpendicular line of tin- other, in the manner in which a superstructure above ground is made in rest upon the last course of the foundation. As even now there was water in the trench, I could not have it cleared for an examination Mill deeper of the fabric. But if we take the date of the prostrate statue to indicate that of the building, and if we assume the top of the lower course to represent the then ground surface, it will be found that the following are the data for the increase of the alluvium. From the top of the course in question, to the level of the irrigation, this year was about 9*8, and the general level of the nearest cultivated flat may be stated at about 2 feet less; so that the actual thickness of alluvium over the old sur- face line is very nearly 8 feet. ISTor can it be supposed that this represents all the increase since the days of Eamses II., for it cannot be imagined that when the temple was built its pavement was laid on the level of the natural surface, and just clear of the irrigation. On the contrary, its site would be most likely to have some elevation, * and whatever we conceive this elevation to have been, we must add its amount to the eight feel to get at the gain of the alluvium within the period in question. But on the other hand, there comes into play the consideration referred to in the case of Thebes, that we do not know whether the site of Memphis, at the peril id when the building in question was erected, may not have been under the normal local level of the alluvium, artificial arrangements baving per haps, existed, whereby the inundation for a long course of years had not been allowed to operate. In this case, the accumulation of the alluvium, when the protecting care was withdrawn, would be more than normally rapid. But there is always a comparatively narrow limit to any supposi tion of the site of the Town being much lower than the influence of the irrigation, for even if the latter were hanked out, the nature of the soi] Is such, that any depression would be rendered for a certain period of the yearaswampby the ooze. From this it maybe held tofollow, thai when a massive building like that to which the portion in question belonged was to be built, at least a firm site would be sought, or artificalry made for it ; and it would seem to be conclusive, that its pavement would be SO 1 Note.— As in urging excavation below ruin of Memphis. 54 APPENDIX. high, that whatever alluvium is now above it must be held as represent- ing a normal growth, at least equal to its own thickness. This reasoning- would not apply so well, or at all to the Colossi, as they are founded upon the desert where the nitration would not be operative, as in the case of Memphis, whicb stood upon the alluvial plain. It is particularly worthy of remark, that the peculiarity of Memphis would make deep excavations on its site exceedingly interesting. For, considering that the lower part of buildings presumed to be of the date of Ramses II. are now buried to the depth of eight feet, and flooded by the inundation ; and considering that the same processes were Likewise in operation earlier, it might be, looking to the reputation which Memphis always possessed of a vast antiquity, that traces of older structures still he at lower levels. As the years of the city advanced, that imperceptible surface-growth of debris which is generally found to have gone on in ancient towns, would be ever stimulated by the relation of the soil to the inundations, and when older buildings fell into decay, the fate of at least their substructures would be to be covered over by builders of later ages. Deep excavations at Memphis might therefore be very important, as well in an historical as a physical point of view. But in truth, throughout all Egypt, it may be said that all that has as yet been done in the way of excavation, is little more than mere scratching, and the vastness of the mine makes us wonder whether it will ever be thoroughly explored. In the alluvium, westward from Memphis — that is, on the edge of the desert at Sakkara — there are depressions, and particularly one, where the water lodges even at present. The ground is apparently low hereabout. Sir G. Wilkinson's idea is, that the river may anciently have flowed here, and he refers to the statement of Herodotus as to Menes turning the channel at a certain distance above Memphis. But whether any such statement of Herodotus as to a time and personage so obscure is worthy of an attempt at verification, the channel, whether originally natural or artificial, of what is now the Bahr Yousef, no doubt found its way down somewhere near the desert. The present line of the Bahr Yousef is somewhat further out in the plain. But nearer the desert a raised dike which traverses the plain, and is formed from the earth dug out at its feet, is very plentifully strewed with dead shells {Gyrene consobrina 1 and others) brought up with the soil. This probably indicates, if not the presence of a considerable water course, a more marshy condition along this tract." 1 As to the relation of the Cyrene to the river, note that I have observed great quan- tities of the shell {Cyrene) tolerably fresh, i.e., with colour, in the heap alongside a II.— MR RHIND'S BEQUESTS TO THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND. By his Will Mr Rhind conveyed to Alexander Kincaid Mackenzie, Manager of the Commercial Dank of Scotland, Edinburgh; David Brem- ner, of Her Majesty's Customs, Aberdeen ; Alexander Wares, Agent for the Union Bank in Wick; and John Stuart uf the General Register House, Edinburgh, as liis trustees and executors, his estate of Sibster, in Caith ness, and all his other property. After many bequests to relations and friends, Mr Rhind leaves a sum of L.5000 for the foundation of two scholarships in the University of Edinburgh, and L.7000 for the establishment at Wick of an Institution for the Industrial Training of Orphan Girls from certain parishes in the county of Caithness. His bequests to the Society are in the following terms : — I.— BEQUEST OF £400 FOR EXCAVATIONS. " And further, I direct my trustees to pay four hundred pounds to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, to be expended in practical archaeo logical excavations in the north-eastern portion of Scotland, where the remains are mostly unknown to the general student, are often in good preservation, and from ethnographical reasons are ldtely to afford impor- tant information — and I point more particularly, but not exclusively, to the upland districts of the counties of Caithness, Sutherland, and Ross . and the said Society shall be at liberty to delay the expenditure of the said bequest for ten years after they receive it, allowing it or any portion of it to accumulate, so as to wait for an opportunity for making a granl or grants to a competent person or persons who would lie willing to lay out the whole of such grants lor actual excavation, so that none, if possible, would be diverted for personal expenses: declaring that it is also a con dition that the said Society shall publish the results of such excavations, duly illustrated, in their Transactions, or in any way they may determine j small branch canal near the Abbasseah (Cairo), just at the boundary of the cultivated land and tho desert. This heap constituted either what had turn in | ho trench originally, if it were a new one, or the scourings, if old. Tin- distance I,. the Nil,, from the spot is rather more than four miles, but there is a large canal within a quarter of a mile Ob APPENDIX. but I recommend a substantive volume to be published under their auspices and issued by subscription or otherwise, for with this in view, the excavations would be more systematically undertaken, and the archaeo- logical data from a given district would be rendered more available by being brought together in one focus." II.— BEQUEST OF LIBEAEY. " I give and bequeath to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, my library — that is to say, all the books that I may die possessed of; but as the condition hereby attached to this bequest is, that my library, from containing mostly works of a cognate character, shall be added to and preserved with the library of the said Society, but not kept apart or in any way distinguished except by the insertion of a book-plate shewing them to have been a bequest, I point out, and trust to the discretion of their Council that they will separate these books of mine which are of a miscellaneous or otherwise unsuitable character for the library of the said Society, and the books so separated I hereby bequeath to the said David Bremner." III.— BEQUEST EOE FOUNDING A PEOFESSOESHIP OF AECILEOLOGY. " Whereas, In my said will and explanatory document relative thereto, I bequeathed to the Senatus or other competent governing body of the Uni- versity of Edinburgh, a sum from the reversion of the estate of Sibsterfor the endowment of a Chair- of Archaeology and History in the said University, and as I have since become aware of the alterations in that University in operation or proposed under the recent Act, involving the endowment of the existing Chair of History and other changes, I conceive that my object will be better fulfilled by bequeathing the said reversionary sum, which I hereby bequeath accordingly intrust to the Council of the Society of Anti- quaries of Scotland for a similar, to wit, the following purpose : — The said reversionary sum shall be securely invested for all time coming, and the annual interest accruing thereupon shall be paid to a lecturer, reader, or professor of archaeology (according to whichever title may be selected by the said Council), the election of which lecturer shall be vested in and be made by the said Council, as the objects I have in view are two, — First., To assist in the general advancement of knowledge ; and Second, To APPENDIX. 57 aid in furnishing some suitable positions of moderate emolument for students, which positions are now so greatly wanting in Scotland. I be- lieve the latter of these objects will be equally well accompbshed by the establishment of a lectureship as above, in connexion with the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, while the former object will, upon the whole, be more appropriately carried out, as the scope of a lectureship in archaeology and allied subjects might be more discursive than might seem altogether to accord with systematic University teaching. I hereby therefore revoke the bequest of the said reversionary sum to the said University, and be- queath the said sum for the said purpose in trust to the Council for the time being of the said Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, declaring that it shall be a condition in their appointment of the said lecturer or pro- fessor that he shah, be bound to debver annually a course of not less than six lectures on some branch of archaeology, ethnology, ethnography, or allied topic, in some suitable place; but declaring also that the said Coun- cil shall determine whether entry to the said lectures shall be gratuitous to the public or by some moderate payment, the proceeds of which shall be delivered to the said Society of Antiquaries, or added to the said lecturer's emolument; and declaring further, that the said Council shall have power to decide all other details, and to decide whether the appoint- ment to the said lectureship shall be for life or for a term of years : And if at any time it shall appear to the said Councd that the said lectureship shovdd have a larger endowment than the sum herein bequeathed may provide, the said Council shall be at bberty to request and accept dona- tions or bequests to a fund for that purpose ; and I hereby declare, to guard against error, that the sum from the proceeds of the estate of Sibster bequeathed by me in my foresaid will and relative document to the Senatus or other competent body of the said University of Edinburgh for the establishment of scholarships, is not affected by these presents. IV. — By a letter of instructions to his trustees as to papers and other literary matters, he directs them to provide funds for the completion of his book entitled " Thebes : its Tombs and its Tenants." The letter con- tains the following passage : — "I hereby declare that any profits [from the sale of the volume] shall belong to the Society of Antiquaries of Scot- land, and that the copyright of the volume shall be their property." VNP COMPANY, KTMMM K'.H. v\w» 2MWW? fe^^p! m M y r-A°A £M' 3 'mmmimm^ .\mj |Wj'« vv VaV J"U U' ;VV. •m-jjmit y ¥V WYd v milmJi 'w^U^ v TOew v « j M^ro vvyvy-.w JU VU*U V V' :WW!S wy^w /JUufiHtfW* w/Vw**"' wwtim&k ■ V'W MM \XfuJi vw i^^m^^w^^ ^s-^^c^ 'WbtiWV l^M^S^S^w^ V^v. v 5W ■m^ '^ww^u^ ^WWW w W WWw vw V Wy ^ AA^Y' v *V . - W^Vu^w^ gtaftk :w*wvy '^v w ww - ..^^^^^Wwwwww^i^:^ VVu^^^^ ^wlA/wM 5 -Wvwvvc **w&; WW* .v-...^ N> ^ -^. v. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 020 691 907 3 m ' .di&i'iii