Correct information as to the means of locomotion will be furnished by Mr. Holton, the Peninsular Company's Agent at Malta, who can advise the traveller how to save much valuable time, and also how to avoid trouble and expense.
In a previous page we have pointed out the principal objects of interest in the vicinity of Cairo and Alexandria, which are accessible in the ordinary transit through Egypt. In the event, however, of a prolonged residence in that country, either from necessity or choice, the list of _videnda_ may manifestly be much extended.
Supposing the traveller, then, to start from Cairo, after inspecting the pyramids and other sights near that city, he can, by application to an agent on the spot, procure a boat, well supplied with provisions, &c., and proceed a considerable distance up the Nile. We have stated elsewhere that there is little besides the Pacha's palace, Pompey's pillar, and Cleopatra's needle, to be seen at and in the neighbourhood of Alexandria, and therefore call the attention of the sojourner in Egypt to the interesting antiquities he will have an opportunity of examining on the borders of the Nile. Should he purpose limiting his trip to a fortnight, in order to be in time for the packet from Suez or Alexandria, it must be borne in mind that he can only visit a few of the places mentioned below, and must make arrangements accordingly; but, in case he should desire to extend his travels, we subjoin some notes from the best authorities, of the manifold wonders to be seen on the banks of the mighty Nile, and, if the reader require even further information, we commend to his perusal the admirable work on Egypt by Sir Gardiner Wilkinson.
The great pyramid of Sacarah contains a small chamber with a few hieroglyphics, differing in this respect from all others. The arched tombs (now nearly destroyed) proving the pre-Augustan existence of the masonic arch, is of the time of Psammeticus II., about B.C. 604.
Mit Raheny, a large colossus of Rameses II., the supposed Sesostris. Mounds and indistinct remains of Memphis. On the right bank are the quarries from which a portion of the stones for the pyramids were drawn. In one part, oxen are represented drawing a block placed on a sledge. A little to the south of the modern village is an inclined plane, leading from the quarries to the river.