oduced his _proteges_ to
the manager of Astley's. The practiced eye of the renowned equestrian
immediately appreciated at their value the beauty and athletic vigor of
the Paduan Goliath; and he engaged both him and his wife at a liberal
salary. He caused a piece, entitled "The Twelve Labors of Hercules" to
be arranged expressly for his new performers; and Mr. Salt had soon
afterward the satisfaction of seeing Giovanni Belzoni appear on the
stage, carrying twelve men on his arms and shoulders, while madame, in
the costume of Cupid, stood at the top, as the apex of a pyramid, and
waved a tiny crimson flag.

After some time, Mr. Salt went to Egypt as consul, and there became
acquainted with Signor Drouetti. The two friends, equally enthusiastic
on the subject of Egyptian antiquities, set to work to prosecute
researches, with an ardor of rivalship which approached somewhat too
nearly to jealousy. Each aspired to undertake the boldest expeditions,
and to attempt the most hazardous excavations. But the great object of
their ambition was an enormous bust of Memnon, in rose-colored granite,
which lay half buried in the sand on the left bank of the Nile.

Signor Drouetti had failed in all his attempts to raise it, nor was Mr.
Salt a whit more successful. One day, while the latter was thinking what
a pity it was that such a precious monument should be left to perish by
decay, a stranger asked to speak with him. Mr. Salt desired him to be
admitted; and immediately, despite his visitor's Oriental garb and long
beard, he recognized the Hercules of Astley's.

"What has brought you to Egypt?" asked the astonished consul.

"You shall hear, sir," replied the Italian. "After having completed my
engagement in London, I set out for Lisbon, where I was employed by the
manager of the theatre of San Carlo to perform the part of Samson, in a
scriptural piece which had been arranged expressly for me. From thence I
went to Madrid, where I appeared with applause in the theatre Della
Puerta del Sol. After having collected a tolerable sum of money, I
resolved to come here. My first object is to induce the Pasha to adopt
an hydraulic machine for raising the waters of the Nile."

Mr. Salt then explained his wishes respecting the antiquities; but
Belzoni, could not, he said, enter upon that till he had carried out his
scheme of water-works.

He was accompanied, he said in continuation, by Mrs. Belzoni, and by an
Irish lad of the name of James Cu