that far-off scene, and
reveals a lightness of touch most unusual in writers of that time. There
is surely, too, an appreciation of a delicate form of humour observable
in his account of some of his dealings with the prince. It is appalling
to think that the peasants who found this roll of papyrus might have
used it as fuel for their evening fire; and that, had not a drifting
rumour of the value of such articles reached their village, this little
tale of old Egypt and the long-lost Kingdoms of the Sea would have gone
up to empty heaven in a puff of smoke.

CHAPTER VI.

THE STORY OF THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR.

When the early Spanish explorers led their expeditions to Florida, it
was their intention to find the Fountain of Perpetual Youth, tales of
its potent waters having reached Peter Martyr as early as 1511. This
desire to discover the things pertaining to Fairyland has been,
throughout history, one of the most fertile sources of adventure. From
the days when the archaic Egyptians penetrated into the regions south of
the Cataracts, where they believed that the inhabitants were other than
human, and into Pount, the "Land of the Ghosts," the hope of Fairyland
has led men to search the face of the earth and to penetrate into its
unknown places. It has been the theme of countless stories: it has
supplied material for innumerable songs.

And in spite of the circumambulations of science about us, in spite of
the hardening of all the tissues of our imagination, in spite of the
phenomenal development of the commonplace, this desire for a glimpse of
the miraculous is still set deeply in our hearts. The old quest of
Fairyland is as active now as ever it was. We still presume, in our
unworthiness, to pass the barriers, and to walk upon those paths which
lead to the enchanted forests and through them to the city of the Moon.
At any moment we are ready to set forth, like Arthur's knights, in
search of the Holy Grail.

The explorer who penetrates into Central Africa in quest of King
Solomon's mines is impelled by a hope closely akin to that of the
Spaniards. The excavator who digs for the buried treasures of the Incas
or of the Egyptians is often led by a desire for the fabulous. Search is
now being made in the western desert of Egypt for a lost city of
burnished copper; and the Anglo-Egyptian official is constantly urged by
credulous natives to take camels across the wilderness