LETTER XIV.

Majestic temple of the sacred bull, Apis--Tyrian mariner torn to pieces by the Egyptians for ignorantly killing a sacred cat--Imposing worship of the deified bull--Description of the sacred animal--Costly offerings at his shrine--An omen!--Tasteful palace of the hierarch of the temple--Transmigration of souls--Brute incarnation of deity--Tradition concerning Osiris--Foreshadowing of the coming of the Invisible upon earth in human form--Lamentations upon the death of a deified bull--His obsequies--Pomp and rejoicings over a new god, Apis--Mausoleum of the Serapis--Sarcophagi--The Sarapeum--The Lady Nelisa--Beautiful daughter of the priest of Mars--The Lake of the Dead--Embalmers and their art--Customs attending death and embalmment--Funeral procession of Rathmes, "lord of the royal gardens"--The venerable head-gardener, Amram--The baris, or sacred boat--pp. 226-244.