| perambulates the land on a visit to my ancestors, the "blameless
Ethiopians". I felt lifted out of the commonplace grandeur of
modem times; and, could my voice have reached every African
in the world, I would have earnestly addressed him in the language
of Hilary Teage:
"Retake your fame!"
Now that the slave-holding of Africans in Protestant countries
has come to an end, and the necessity no longer exists for stripping
them of the attributes of manhood, it is to be hoped that a large-
hearted philosophy and an honest interpretation of the facts of
history, sacred and secular, will do them the justice to admit their
participation in, if not origination of, the great works of ancient
civilization.
* * *
The heat was not so great within the pyramid as might at first
be supposed; it seems to be ventilated from some quarter. Before
the Arabs would consent to guide us out they insisted on receiving
bakhshish—a present, corresponding to dash among the aborigines
in West Africa. We had to promise them solemnly and earnestly
that on gaining the open air we would satisfy all their desires. Had
they left us, as they pretended to be about to do, it would have
been utterly impossible for us to get out; and the idea of stumbling
in the darkness, rolling down slippery places, and falling into deep
holes, was harassingly frightful. We were considerably relieved,
therefore, when they accepted our pledge, and, taking us upon
their shoulders, carefully carried us out.
On reaching the opening the Arabs sold us coffee, in very small
cups, which considerably refreshed us. I felt that my perilous adven-
ture had given me the right of inscribing my name among the
hundreds which I saw engraved over and on each side of the
entrance, bearing dates as early as the sixteenth century. Borrowing,
or rather hiring, for I paid him a shilling for the use of it, an
engraving knife from one of the Arabs, I engraved, not far from
a name dated 1685, the word LIBERIA, with my name and the date—
July 11th, 1866—immediately under it. There is a tolerable degree
of certainty, therefore, that the name at least of that little Republic
will go down to posterity.
After this I attempted to walk around the Pyramid, but I found
that my strength, considerably reduced by the visit to the interior,
did not allow me, especially as it was necessary to climb over a
great deal of rubbish which has collected about the base. I therefore
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