chirhtc I. 394.]

After a short time a young priest appeared with the intelligence that his
superior awaited the Prince's visit. Psamtik had seated himself under the
shadow of the sacred grove of silver poplars bordering the shores of the
consecrated lake, holy to the great Neith. He rose immediately, crossed
the temple-court, paved with stone and asphalte, on which the sun's rays
were darting like fiery arrows, and turned into one of the long avenues
of Sphinxes which led to the isolated Pylons before the gigantic temple
of the goddess. He then passed through the principal gate, ornamented, as
were all Egyptian temple-entrances, with the winged sun's disc. Above its
widely-opened folding doors arose on either side, tower-like buildings,
slender obelisks and waving flags. The front of the temple, rising from
the earth in the form of an obtuse angle, had somewhat the appearance of
a fortress, and was covered with colored pictures and inscriptions.
Through the porch Psamtik passed on into a lofty entrance-chamber, and
from thence into the great hall itself, the ceiling of which was strewn
with thousands of golden stars, and supported by four rows of lofty
pillars. Their capitals were carved in imitation of the lotus-flower, and
these, the shafts of the columns, the walls of this huge hall, and indeed
every niche and corner that met the eye were covered with brilliant
colors and hieroglyphics. The columns rose to a gigantic height, the eye
seemed to wander through immeasurable space, and the air breathed by the
worshippers was heavy with the fragrance of Kyphi and incense, and the
odors which arose from the laboratory attached to the temple. Strains of
soft music, proceeding from invisible hands, flowed on unceasingly, only
occasionally interrupted by the deep lowing of the sacred cows of Isis,
or the shrill call of the sparrow-hawk of Horus, whose habitations were
in one of the adjoining halls. No sooner did the prolonged low of a cow
break like distant thunder on the ear, or the sharp cry of the
sparrow-hawk shoot like a flash of lightning through the nerves of the
worshippers, than each crouching form bent lower still, and touched the
pavement with his forehead. On a portion of this pavement, raised above
the rest, stood the priests, some wearing ostrich-feathers on their bald
and shining heads; others panther-skins over their white-robed shoulders.
Muttering and singing, bowing low and rising again, they swung the
cense