of this god Amonra of Karnak."

The great heaps of fresh resin were next the objects of special
attention. Hatshopsitu "gave a bushel made of electrum to gauge the mass
of gum, it being the first time that they had the joy of measuring the
perfumes for Amon, lord of Karnak, master of heaven, and of presenting
to him the wonderful products of Puanit. Thot, the lord of Hermo-polis,
noted the quantities in writing; Safkhitabui verified the list. Her
Majesty herself prepared from it, with her own hands, a perfumed unguent
for her limbs; she gave forth the smell of the divine dew, her perfume
reached even to Puanit, her skin became like wrought gold,* and her
countenance shone like the stars in the great festival hall, in the
sight of the whole earth."

* In order to understand the full force of the imagery here
employed, one must remember that the Egyptian artists
painted the flesh of women as light yellow.

Hatshopsitu commanded the history of the expedition to be carved on the
wall of the colonnades which lay on the west side of the middle platform
of her funerary chapel: we there see the little fleet with sails
spread, winging its way to the unknown country, its safe arrival at its
destination, the meeting with the natives, the animated palavering, the
consent to exchange freely accorded; and thanks to the minuteness
with which the smallest details have been portrayed, we can as it were
witness, as if on the spot, all the phases of life on board ship, not
only on Egyptian vessels, but, as we may infer, those of other
Oriental nations generally. For we may be tolerably sure that when the
Phoenicians ventured into the distant parts of the Mediterranean, it was
after a similar fashion that they managed and armed their vessels.

[Illustration: 369.jpg SOME OF THE INCENSE TREES BROUGHT FROM PUANIT TO
DEIR EL-BAIIAKI]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by Beato.

Although the natural features of the Asiatic or Greek coast on which
they effected a landing differed widely from those of Puanit, the
Phoenician navigators were themselves provided with similar objects of
exchange, and in their commercial dealings with the natives the methods
of procedure of the European traders were doubtless similar to those of
the Egyptians with the barbarians of the Red Sea.

Hatshopsitu reigned for at least eight years after this memorable
expedition, and traces of her further activity are to be observed in
ev