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 censers and poured libations of pure water to the
gods out of golden vessels. In this immense temple man seemed a dwarf in
his own eyes. All his senses even to the organs of respiration, were
occupied by objects far removed from daily life, objects that thrilled
and almost oppressed him. Snatched from all that was familiar in his
daily existence, he seemed to grow dizzy and seek support beyond himself.
To this the voice of the priests directed him and the cries of the sacred
animals were believed to prove a divinity at hand.

Psamtik assumed the posture of a worshipper on the low, gilded and
cushioned couch set apart for him, but was unable to pay any real
devotion, and passed on to the adjoining apartment before mentioned,
where the sacred cows of Isis-Neith and the sparrow-hawk of Horus were
kept. These creatures were concealed from the gaze of the worshippers by
a curtain of rich fabric embroidered with gold; the people were only