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London Published for the Proprietors of the European Magazine by Lupton Relfe 13 Cornhill, Sep 151822.

EUROPEAN MAGAZINE,

AND

LONDON REVIEW.

AUGUST 1822.

MEMOIR

OF

GIOVANNI BELZONI, Esq.

WITH A

Retrospect of his " Operations and recent Discoveries within the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs and Excavations in Egypt and Nubia; and of a Journey to the Coast of the Red Sea, in search of the ancient Berenice; and another to the Oasis of Jupiter Ammon."

MR. BELZONI is a native of the city of Padua, and descended from a Roman family, which resided there many years. The disturbed state of Italy, in 1800, obliged him to leave that country, a circumstance which led him to visit different parts of Europe. His family, though not rich, sent him some occasional remittances; but, unwilling to be a burthen to them, he contrived to support himself by the knowledge which he had acquired in various branches, particularly hydraulics, a science from which he derived considerable advantages, and which ultimately led to his visiting Egypt. In 1803 he arrived in England, and married shortly after. He remained here nine years, and having a natural propensity for travelling, he resolved on making a tour through the South of Europe, and visited Portugal, Spain, and Malta, whence he embarked for Egypt in 1815, where he remained to 1819. discoveries which he made in this country, and Nubia, are the subject of a work which he has published since his arrival in England. He was chiefly led to engage in this work, in consequence of the many erroneous accounts which had been given to the public, after his opera

The

tions and discoveries in Egypt. The work is written in a simple, pleasing, and perspicuous style, though it may seem to want that nerve, that copiousness of expression and power of language, which seldom, if ever, characterize the style of an author who writes in a foreign tongue. The want of these higher beauties, however, is more than compensated, by the importance of the matter, and the plain, unaffected simplicity of manner in which the author communicates his thoughts. Though he had many causes of complaint against certain individuals, he sel dom gives way to the language of indignation. His reason always presides over his feelings, but his feelings are not the less strong, nor his sense of injury less poignant and acute. As his travels in Egypt and Nubia form the most interesting part of his own life, we have, for the satisfaction of our readers, given a history in miniature of the most important transactions in which he was engaged, during his residence in these countries. By this means, we make them, at once, acquainted with the history of his life, and the substance of the work which he has laid before the public. Mr. Belzoni sailed from Malta on the 19th of May, 1815, and

arrived at Alexandria on the 9th of June following. The object of his visit to Egypt was to construct hydraulic machines, to water the fields with greater expedition, and less expence, than the method usually adopted in that country. On arriving at Alexandria, the city was infected with the plague, though it was then on the decline. He and his party, which consisted only of Mrs. Belzoni, James Curtain, an Irish youth, and himself, were, accordingly, obliged to perform quarantine at the French Occale, where they remained till the first of July, when the plague had entirely abated. The 24th of June, St. John's day, is eagerly looked for by the Egyptians during the plague, as it then generally begins to decline rapidly, a circumstance which the natives attribute to the guardian- power of the saint, but which Mr. Belzoni justly attributes to the great increase of heat, which, like the extreme of cold, checks the pestilence. On the first of July, Mr. Belzoni and his party sailed up the Nile, in company with Mr. Turner, an English gentleman, but were driven back by contrary winds the same evening. The next day they re-embarked, and landed at Aboukir, in consequence of high winds. They continued their Voyage the same day, and landed at Rosetta. In four days afterwards, they reached Boolak, within a mile of Cairo, to which they immediately proceeded; and as the monks of the convent of Terressante could receive no women within their walls, they were accommodated with an old house in Boolak, belonging to Mr. Baghos, the principal interpreter of Mahomed Ali, and director of all foreign affairs. Mr. Baghos very courteously appointed a day to present him to his Highness, the Bashaw, to propose the object of his visit. In the meantime, curiosity led him to see the pyramids in the neighbourhood of Cairo, in company with Mr. Turner, who procured an escort of soldiers from the Bashaw.

They ascended the first pyramid before the rising of the sun; and, though Mr. Belzoni deals not in the picturesque style, the scene, as he describes it, is grand and imposing beyond description. Our limits preclude us from entertaining our read

ers with the sublime prospects of which it was composed, and which lavish nature seemed to have scattered around him, in terrific though delightful magnificence. Mr. Belzoni returned with his friend to Cairo, strongly impressed with the influence of a scene which he had long desired, but never expected he should have the happiness to behold.

A few days after, he and a party of Europeans visited the pyramids of Sacara, by water, whence he proceeded, accompanied only by Mr. Turner, to visit the pyramids of Dajior; which, though considerably smaller, are in much better preservation than of the rest. If opporany tunity permitted, they would have visited the embalmed mummies of birds, but a Fellah brought them an earthen vase containing a bird, which appeared to be of the hawk species. The vase was so perfect, that they believed the Fellah only sought to impose upon them, and, refusing, consequently, to purchase it, the Fellah, to prove what connoisseurs they were, broke it in their presence.

Two days after their return to Cairo, Mr. Baghos accompanied him to the citadel, to introduce him to the Bashaw; but as they passed along through one of the principal streets, a soldier on horseback rode up to him, and gave him such a blow on the leg with his stirrup, that he imagined it cut in two. The wound was deep, and two inches broad, so that, instead of proceeding to the Bashaw, he was taken to the convent of Terrassanta, to be cured. The stirrups of the Turkish soldiers are like shovels, cut very short. The Turks were, at this time, greatly incensed against the Bashaw, for ordering them to learn the European military evolutions,a circumstance to which Mr. Belzoni attributes the injury which he received.

After recovering from his wound, he was presented to the Bashaw, who received him with great civility. He seemed to think little about the wound in his leg, simply observing, that such things were unavoidable, where there were troops. He 'immediately entered into an arrangement with Mr. Belzoni, relative to the construction of his hydraulic

machine; but he was not many days engaged in it, when a revolution took place at Cairo among the troops, who were hostile to the introduction of European tactics; and the Bashaw was obliged to take refuge in the citadel. Cairo and its vicinity remained a scene of pillage and confusion for several days, during which, our traveller was obliged to confine himself within doors; but the troops who remained faithful to the Bashaw succeeded, at length, in restoring order, and the discontented troops were sent to encampments in various stations, at a distance from Cairo. The Bashaw, however, was obliged to relinquish his project of introducing the military evolutions of Europe among his soldiery.

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After tranquillity was restored, Mr. Belzoni proceeded with his hydraulic preparations, in which he experienced considerable interruption from the Turks, who were not only hostile to all European improvements, but suspected, that if this hydraulic machine should succeed, it would deprive many of them of work. While he was thus engaged, he had many opportunities of becoming acquainted with the manners and customs of the Turks, and the occupations and amusements of the Bashaw, which he very particularly describes. The Bashaw is a great marksman, and diverts himself every evening, about sun-set, in shooting at an earthen pot, placed on the opposite bank of the Nile. Mr. Belzoni saw him hit a pot, only fifteen inches high, across the Nile, where the river is much broader than the Thames at Westminster. He is extremely fond of European arts, to which his subjects have a proportionate aversion. He has, how, ever, succeeded in introducing the fabrication of gunpowder, the refining of sugar, the making of fine indigo, and the silk manufacture. Why a ruler should be more studious of those arts which benefit society at large, than those to whom the blessing is communicated, seems to be a question well worthy of philosophic investigation. As our limits will not permit us to enter into the discussion, we can only observe, that mere abstract philosophy can have little, or, rather, no hope of being able to resolve it; and that no writer can pretend to be adequate

to the task, who cannot place himself in the same situation with the people, for the motives of whose conduct he pretends to account.

Mr. Belzoni's water machine was finished while the Bashaw happened to be at Alexandria, and, on his return, an experiment was made of its utility. Though constructed of bad wood and bad iron, and erected by Arabian carpenters, it drew six times more water than the common machines. The prejudice, however, was very strong against it; and the Bashaw, fearful to oppose the general feeling, decided, that it had only four times the power of the common machines. This, however, was all that Mr. Belzoni had undertaken, but an accident soon frustrated its adoption, and quieted the fears of the people. The Bashaw, to indulge a frolic, instead of oxen, put fifteen men into it, to try its effect, but the wheel had scarcely turned once, when they all leaped out, leaving James, the Irish boy, alone in the machine. The wheel, which was consequently overbalanced by the weight of water, turned back with such rapidity, that the catch was unable to check it; and the boy was violently thrown out, having one of his thighs broken. Turks have an insurmountable objection to all new inventions which are attended with any accident; and the Bashaw, who had not yet surmounted the fears of the late rebellion, yielded to their superstition, and renounced the adoption of the machine, so that Mr. Belzoni's contract with him was consigned to oblivion.

The

He now determined to leave Cairo, and, accordingly, applied to Mr. Salt, the British Consul, to procure him a firman from the 'Bashaw, to sail up the Nile. Mr. Salt, who had long deliberated on removing the head of the statue of the younger Memnon, which lay at Gornou, a village near Thebes, availed himself of this opportunity, and proposed to Mr. Belzoni the raising of the bust, and conveying it down the Nile to Alexandria, with an intention of sending it to London, and offering it as a present to the British Museum. To this proposal, Mr. Belzoni agreed, but denies, that he was regularly employed by the British Consul, as has been publicly

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