wonderful architecture of rock-hewn Petra. "Were those excavations," says Dr. Kitto,* "instead of following all the sinuosities of the mountain and its numerous gorges, ranged in regular order, they probably would form a street not less than five or six miles in length. They are often seen rising one above another in the face of the cliff, and convenient steps, now much worn, cut in the rock, lead in all directions through the fissures, and along the sides of the mountains, to the various tombs that occupy these lofty positions. Some of them are apparently not less than from two hundred to three or four hundred feet above the level of the valley. Conspicuous situations, visible from below, were generally chosen; but sometimes the opposite taste prevailed, and the most secluded cliffs, fronting some dark ravine, and quite hidden from the gaze of the multitude, were preferred. "The ornamental architecture is wholly confined to the front, while the interior is quite plain and destitute of all decoration. The front of the mountain is wrought into façades of splendid temples, rivaling in their aspect and symmetry the most celebrated monuments of Grecian art. Columns of various colors, graceful pediments, broad, rich entablatures, and sometimes statuary, all hewn out of the solid rock, and still forming part of the native mass, transform the base of the mountain into a vast splendid pile of architecture; while the overhanging cliffs, towering above in shapes as rugged and wild as any on which the eye ever rested, form the most striking and curious of contrasts." *Cyclop. v, ii, p. 726. The Pharos at Alexandria. That towering light which stood Lay open toward the ocean flood, Where lightly o'er the illumined surge CONTENTS. THE PHAROS WATCH-TOWER, OR LIGHTHOUSE, AT ALEXANDRIA, IN EGYPT. From the blue waters to the deep blue skies, Eye with delight their much-loved, long-sought home. ALEXANDRIA Owes its origin to Alexander the Great, who, about B. C. 332, gave orders to Dinocrates, a Macedonian architect, to erect a city between the sea and Lake Mareotis; and the undertaking appears to have been one of the most noble this celebrated conqueror ever executed. Having journeyed through Egypt, and seen the highly-productive state of the country, and that it was watered by one of the largest rivers of the world, which discharged itself by seven mouths into the Mediterranean Sea, he thought its only want was a convenient harbor. Alexander, who was magnificent and liberal, found among his countrymen engineers and architects qualified to assist his bold ideas, and he had, what is a rare quality among princes, the talent to select the best man fitted to execute them; and on this occasion he appointed Dinocrates to the task of building the new city. The site selected was one for which nature had done much, and which seemed capable of being made by art all that was desirable. In the midst of the capacious bay, on the shore of which the city was marked out, and at some distance from the mainland, lay the Island of Pharos, which acted as a natural breakwater;-the island was of an oblong form. This Dinocrates united with the mainland by an extensive causeway, or earth-wall-thus dividing the bay into two harbors. Dinocrates was the architect and sculptor who proposed to Alexander to carve Mount Athos into a statue of the monarch, having in his left hand the walls of a great city, and all the rivers of the mountains flowing through his right hand into the sea. Alexander declined the offer, but took him to Egypt, and employed him in beautifying Alexandria. He was also employed by the Ephesians in rebuilding the Temple of Diana. He also began to build a temple in honor of Arsinoe, by order of Ptolemy, in which he intended to suspend a statue of the queen by means of a loadstone. His death, however, put an end to the work. To render the harbor safe of approach at all times, Ptolemy Soter, who, on the death of Alexander, obtained the government of Egypt, determined on erecting a lighthouse on the eastern extremity of the Isle of Pharos, the celebrity of which has given the name to all other lighthouses. This pharos was in height four hundred and fifty feet, and could be seen at a distance of one hundred miles. It was built of several stories, decreasing in dimension toward the top, where fires were lighted in a species of lantern. The ground-floor and the two next above were hexagonal; the fourth was a square with a round tower at each angle; the fifth |