PUN'SHON, WILLIAM MORLEY ( 1824-81). An English Wesleyan Methodist minister. He was born at Doncaster, Yorkshire, became a local preacher in the Methodist Church, entered the ministry in 1844, and was sent for a few months to the theological institution at Rich mond. His first regular parish was \Vhitehaven (1845), and he held pastorates in Newcastle-on Tyne, Sheffield. Leeds, London, and Bristol. In 1868 he was sent to Canada, where he was presi dent of the Conference for five successive years, and was instrumental in building churches, strengthening Victoria University, and the en largement of the denomination. In 1873 he re turned to England. In 1875 he became secretary of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society. His eloquence and .power as a preacher placed him among the foremost clergymen of his day. Ile published volumes of addresses, lectures, and sermons and one volume of poems. Consult his Life by Macdonald (chapters xi.-xv. by Professor Reynar; London, 3d ed., 1888).
PUNT, (Egyptian Pne'nt). A country oil the Red Sea, often mentioned in the hiero glyphic inscriptions, whence the Egyptians ob tained incense, gold, ebony, ivory. leopard skies, ostrich feathers, and other commodities. The
earliest recorded voyage to Punt was under King Assa of Dynasty 5, and King Se'nnkh-ka-re of Dynasty 11 sent an expedition which, crossing the desert from Koptos to the Red Sea. built a ship and sailed down the coast to Punt. Expedi tions were also sent thither by Amenemhat II., Thothmes Rameses Ill., and other monarchs. Queen Hatshepsut (Hatasu), who sent a whole fleet to Punt, caused the details of the voyage to be depicted upon the walls of the Temple of Deir el-Bahri, with interesting representations of the inhabitants of the' land and of their dwellings. The question as to whether Punt is to be sought on the Asiatic or the African side of the Red Sea has given rise to much discussion, but from the evidence of the Egyptian monuments it seems clear that it corresponded with the modern Abys sinian and Somali Coast. Consult: Ditmichen, Die Flotte einer iigyptisehen Kiinigin (Leipzig, 1808) ; Asirn and Europa (ib., 1S93) ; Erman, Life in Ancient Egypt (London, 1894) ; Naville, Dcir \lemoirs NM, MIL, XIV., and XIX. of the Egypt Exploration Fund (London, 1894 et seq.).