Language.—The language of the ancient Egyp tians was entirely unknown until the discoveries made by Dr. Young from the celebrated Rosetta stone, now preserved in the British Museum. This stone is a slab of black marble which was found by the French in August 1799, among the ruins of Fort St. Julien, on the western bank, and near the mouth of the Rosetta branch of the Nile. It contains a decree in three different kinds of writing, referring to the coronation of Ptolemy V. (Epiphanes), and is supposed to have been sculp tured cir. 195. As part of the inscription is in Greek, it was easily deciphered, and was found to state that the decree was ordered to be written in Sacred, Enchorial, and Greek charac ters. Thence, by carefully comparing the three inscriptions, a key was obtained to the interpreta tion of the mysterious hieroglyphics. The Lan guage which they express closely resembles that which was afterwards called Coptic when the people had become Christians. It is monosyl labic in its roots, and abounds in vowels. There were at least two dialects of it--spoken respec tively in Upper and Lower Egypt. The Coptic has three, viz., the Memphitic, that of Lower Egypt ; the Sahidic or Theban, that of Upper Egypt, and the Bashmuric, perhaps spoken in the oases,* and therefore to be considered pro vincial. The Coptic is a language which stands very much by itself, and is not readily to be as signed to any one of the great families of languages. It somewhat resembles the Semitic in its gram mar, but not at all in its vocabulary.
Botany. —Egypt is a country without timber. There is scarcely a grove to be seen excepting of date-palms. The commonest trees are acacias, sycamore fig-trees, and mulberry trees. The most beautiful are the date-palm and banana trees. The lowest branches of the palm are cut off every year, and on this account the ancient Egyptians adopted the palm as a symbol of the year. When it is allowed to grow wild, its ragged branches reach to the ground, and it has a much less beautiful appearance. The Theban palm is a very different tree, growing in two great stems, each of which divides into many branches. The weeping wil low, myrtle, elm, and cypress grow under cultiva tion, and the tamarisk abounds everywhere. The commonest fruit is dates. The Feiyoom is cele brated for its grapes, from which the market of Cairo is chiefly supplied. The vines arc trailed on trellis-work in the form of avenues in the gar dens of Cairo. An Egyptian garden is said to be like a miniature Egypt, being intersected by nu merous small channels filled by a water-wheeL The water is thus spread over the garden, which is divided into many square compartments, bor dered with ridges of earth. Besides dates and grapes:figs, pomegranates, apricots, peaches, oran ges, citrons, lemons, limes, olives, and various kinds of melons are met with. The cactus, bear ing the Indian fig, is extremely common, and forms the hedges of gardens and plantations. The flowers are the rose, jasmin, narcissus, lily, olean der, chrysanthemum, convolvulus, geranium, dah lia, basil, the hinne plant or Egyptian privet, the helianthus, and the violet. The vegetables, for which the Israelites longed in the desert are very common, and of various kinds. The principal are peas, beans, vetches, lentils (of which pottage is made that is the common food of the Nile boatmen), lupins, mallows, spinach, leeks, onions, garlic, celery, parsley, chicory, cress, radishes, carrots, turnips, lettuce, cabbage, fennel, gourds, cucumbers, tomatas, caraway, coriander, cumin, and aniseed. The commonest field-produce is
wheat, barley, millet, maize, rice, oats, clover, the sugar cane, cotton, and two species of the tobacco plant. The sugar-cane is much cultivated, and excellent sugar is made from it. There are fields of roses in the Feyoom which supply the market with rose-water. Madder, woad, indigo, hemp, and flax are also grown. The lotus, which was richly prized for its flowers by the ancient Egyp tians, is not now common, and the byblus or papyrus (Cyprus Papyrus) has entirely disap peared.* Zoology. —The absence of jungle or forest pre pares us for a paucity of beasts of prey as well as of birds of beautiful plumage. The camel} thrives better in the dry climate of Egypt than elsewhere out of his native deserts. It has but one hump, and has erroneously been called the dromedary, which is merely a swift camel, being to the com mon camel what a saddle-horse is to a cart-horse. Camel's flesh is eaten by the peasants and desert Arabs. The Copts consider it unlawful food. It is singular that no representation of the camel is found in the sculptures and paintings of the monu ments. In Gen. xii. 16, Ex. ix. 3, camels are mentioned as belonging to the Pharaohs. Mr. Poole thinks that the Shepherds were dominant at the time referred to, and that the camel, from its probable connection with them, was omitted on the monuments as a beast of ill omen. In old times the horses of Egypt were famous, though the Egyptian cavalry' probably consisted of chariots. The modern horses are of an indifferent breed. The ass in Egypt is of a very superior kind, tall, handsome, docile, and swift. Buffaloes are corn. mon, and not wild. Sheep and goats abound, and the flesh of the former is the ordinary butchers' meat. The dogs are half wild, being considered unclean by the Muslims, and therefore neglected. Cats are as numerous, but more favoured. The wolf, fox, jackal, and hyaena, the wild cat, weasel, ichneumon, jerboa, and hare, are also found. An telopes, wild asses, and wild boars inhabit the deserts on either side of the Nile. The hippopo tamus is not now found below the first cataract, and rarely below the second ; judging from the monuments, it was once common in Egypt. The crocodile, also, has retreated in like manner, and is seldom seen till the traveller is many miles above Cairo. From the name of the island Elephantine, which has the same meaning in hieroglyphics as in Greek, it is probable that at an early period elephants were found in Upper Egypt, though at present they are not seen north of Abyssinia. Vul tures, eagles, falcons, and kites abound. Quails migrate to Egypt in great numbers. Serpents and snakes are very common, including the deadly cerastes and the cobra di capello. The dangerous scorpion is frequently met with. Beetles of various kinds are found, including that which was ac counted sacred, the scarabmus. The locust is not often though occasionally seen in Egypt. Bees and silkworms are kept, but the honey is not so good as our own, and the silk is inferior to that of Syria.