Being somewhat overcome by the heat we halted upon a little hill to
rest ourselves. While reclining beneath the trees I noticed unusual
carvings upon a huge block against which Lev-el-Hedyd was supporting
his back. They were unlike any we had seen, and yet they were not
unfamiliar. As I lay there gazing idly at them it flashed upon me they
were Egyptian. We at once fell to examining the block, and found to
our amazement an obelisk of Egyptian granite, covered with Egyptian
hieroglyphics of an antiquity exceeding by thousands of years the most
ancient monuments of the country!

Verily, we were puzzled!

"When did the Egyptians invade Mehrika?" quoth Bhoz-ja-khaz, with a
solemn look, as if trying to recall a date.

"No Egyptian ever heard of Mehrika," said Nofuhl. "This obelisk was
finished twenty centuries before the first Mehrikan was weaned. In all
probability it was brought here as a curiosity, just as we take to
Persia the bronze head of George-wash-yn-tun."

We spent much time over the monument, and I think Nofuhl was
disappointed that he could not bring it away with him. Also while in
this park we came to a high tower, standing by itself, and climbed to
the top, where we enjoyed a wide-spreading view.

The extent of the city is astounding.

Miles away in the river lay the Zlotuhb, a white speck on the water.
All about us in every direction as far as sight can reach were ruins,
and ruins, and ruins. Never was a more melancholy sight. The blue sky,