The City of Cairo and the Sphinx.

I have heretofore given you a description of the Pyramids. 1 will now say a few words about the Sphinx, which is another great work of the ancient Egyptians. The picture at the head of this article represents the head of the Great Sphinx as it now appears.

Sphinxes have been found in several of the old cities of Egypt. They are formed with a human head on the body of a lion, and they are always in a sitting posture, with the fore paws stretched out forward. The largest sphinx ever found is in a hollow valley near the foot of the pyramids of Gizeh, and is represented above. The head and a very small portion of the body are the only parts now visible, the remainder of the mass having been covered up in the sand which, for ages upon ages, has been brought there by the westerly winds from the Lybian deserts. The features of the great sphinx are almost worn away by the action of the sand, so that they can scarcely be said to represent the human countenance. Were the whole valley cleared of the sand which now lies there, the sphinx would again become a sublime object, but as it is, it is impossible to form a very correct idea of its magnificence. Once, and once only, since the time of the Romans, has this prodigious image been laid bare to its basis. The party succeeded in laying the paws bare, and cleared away the sand in front of it more than a hundred feet. Many short Greek inscriptions were written on the paws of the statue, which proves that it was held in great veneration. Some estimate may be formed of its size by the fact that the head measures

twenty-eight feet from the chin to the top of the forehead. Let us now return to the city of Cairo.

MAHMOUDIYEH MOSQUE AND CITY GATE.

Cairo is about nine miles in circumference, and contains nearly two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. It was formerly surrounded by a wall, strengthened and adorned by towers, and pierced by sixty-nine magnificent gates, several of which still remain. In several places, however, the fortifications have crumbled into dust. The interior is divided into fifty-four quarters, or systems of buildings, so contrived that each has but one issue by which it communicates with the neighboring sections of the city.

The external doorways of private houses in Cairo are generally arched, and are furnished with a raised threshold consisting of a single stone. The door itself commonly consists of a number of planks, rudely put together, and is painted green, adorned above with red and white. It has generally a knocker and a wooden lock. Close to the entrance is a stone seat, which serves horsemen as a mounting stone, and is generally occupied in the cool of the evening

by the elders of the family, engaged in smoking and chatting with their neighbors. The houses are generally two or three stories high, sometimes even four; and when sufficiently large, enclose an open, unpaved court, entered by a passage constructed with one or two turnings.

Formerly a Christian traveller found in a mosque would have been guilty of sacrilege, and compelled to abjure his religion or lose his life. Even now Christians are prohibited the entry of all Mahometan places of worship, though, by adopting the dress of a native, and distributing a few pieces of money, they can succeed. An English traveller lately assumed the Turkish costume, and visited several of the most remarkable mosques of Cairo, the interior of which few travellers have beheld. He thus describes the

"This mosque is erected near the gate leading to the citadel. It is exceedingly lofty, and its minarets, surpassing all others in height,

are the first which the traveller beholds on approaching the city. Ascending a long flight of steps, and passing under a magnificent doorway, we entered the vestibule, and proceeded towards the sacred portion of the edifice; where, on stepping over a small railing, it was necessary to take off our babooshes, or red Turkish shoes. Here we beheld a spacious square court, paved with marble of various colors, fancifully arranged, with a beautiful marble fountain in the centre. At the extremity of the court, and entirely open to it, is a large apartment, containing a marble tabernacle, surrounded by slender tapering columns, with a finely-sculptured pulpit. Numerous Arabic sentences are written on the wall, in letters of gold; and below, scratched with pen or pencil, are the names of various devotees. Massive doors of bronze, elegantly ornamented, close the entrance into the body of the edifice; into which, for motives of piety or prudence, my Turkish conductor was unwilling to introduce me. To behold this, however, having been my principal object, I addressed myself directly to the keeper of the mosque, at the risk of being discovered; and, somewhat to the surprise of the Turk, obtained instant permission to enter. Here, in the centre of the apartment, and surrounded by a neat railing, stands the tomb of Sultan HasOn the marble slab was placed an antique manuscript copy of the Koran, in heavy massive binding, resembling that of our ancestors, in which oak supplied the place of mill-board. Before I was permitted to touch this sacred relic, the keeper of the mosque explicitly demanded of my companion what were my religion and country. Without the slightest hesitation, he replied, "He is a Turk from Stamboul;" upon which the Koran was placed in my hands. The manuscript, which was of fine parchment, and many centuries old, was written partly with ink, and partly in gold characters, and beautifully illuminated with stars of bright blue, purple and gold. These tastefu. ornaments, varying in size from that of a crown piece to sixpence, studded the pages and the margin, but varied only in dimensions, the pattern being always the same. The title-page was slightly torn, and exhibited a glittering mass of gilding, intermingled with arabesques in brilliant colors."

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It would be an endless task to visit all the places of worship in Cairo. Many of them are constructed in beautiful style, and well deserve a visit from the traveller.

Statue of Peter the Great, St. Petersburg.

THE rapid change which Russia underwent during the reign of Peter the Great, her extraordinary advances under this sage legislator, are among the most important events of which history preserves the record. Proud of his glory, the nation wished to erect a monument in commemoration of his great actions, which in his own city should be a distinctive object to all posterity. In the then young state of their art, some deliberation took place before the design of the structure was decided on: during this the hero died, and the erection of the monument was consequently reserved for the reign of the Empress Catherine II. A precipitous rock was fixed on for the pedestal, on which a statue should appear with characteristics distinguishing it from those erected to other sovereigns.

The first idea was to form this pedestal of six masses of rock, bound together with bars of copper or iron; but the objection was urged, that the natural decay of the bands would cause a disruption of the various parts, and present a ruinous aspect, while it would be