sense, to ourselves, we need not fear either
criticism or rivalry from any quarter whatever;
and, on the whole, one leaves the training-
ship Britannia with the comfortable consciousness
that something good is being done there;
that there are being laid the foundations of
work not unworthy of our ancient naval
renown.

NOT A WHITECHAPEL NEEDLE.

In a ditch at Alexandria there is lying one of
the greatest curiosities in the world. It is the
property of the British nation; but the British
nation in general does not seem to care about
it. The case is different, however, with some
sections of the British public who pass through
Egypt in their passage to or from India or
Australia: the majority bring away a portion of
this curiosity: it being nothing more or less
than Cleopatra's Needle.

There it lies in a ditch, the butt end of the
shaft embedded in the earth. The last time the
writer saw it (not very long ago), a Briton was
sitting upon it, knocking off enough of the
inscribed stone for himself and fellow travellers
with a hammer. The writer expostulated with
his brother Briton, and reminded him that that
wonderful relic of bygone days did not belong
to him, but had been handsomely presented
to the British nation, and therefore belonged
to it. " Well, I know it does," he answered,
"and as one of the British nation I mean to
have my share."

An officer of the Bengal Engineers, who was
coming home on sick leave, protested that the
removal of the needle to England was not only
feasible, but, comparatively, an easy task. "Captain
(now Admiral) W. H. Smyth, of the Royal
Navy," he added, "one of the most scientific
officers in the service, who was out here for
many years surveying, on his return to England
represented to the British government that the
needle might be easily removed, and at a
comparatively small cost."

Mehemet Ali gave to the British this needle,
and to the French the obelisk now in Paris. The
latter was then upwards of five hundred miles
from Alexandria. The French at once set to
work to remove their gift, and, great as the
difficulty was, they accomplished their task
gallantly, and set the obelisk up in their beautiful
city of Paris, where it adorns the Place
de la Concorde.

Admiral Smyth, as already mentioned, on his
return to England, called on a minister of state,
and expressed regret that no steps had been
taken to remove Cleopatra's Needle. He
recommended that Lieutenant (now Sir William)
Symonds, R.N., who was then harbour-master
at Malta, should be charged with the mission,
as he, Lieutenant Symonds, was an officer of
great ability and energy, and not far away from
the spot. The minister, rather captiously and
flippantly, demanded whether an Egyptian
obelisk in London vould not be an anomaly?

To this the admiral replied that Cleopatra's
Needle in Waterloo-place, with "Nelson and
the Nile" and " Abercrombie and Alexandria,"
would be as appropriate a reminder for
posterity in London as anything that could be
done by the Parisians in Paris. The conference
was abruptly broken off with these words from
the minister: " Oh! I dare say Chantrey would
cut us one in Aberdeenshire for less money
than it would cost to bring the other away."
Gonnini de Manoncourt, in his Voyage dans la
Haute et Basse Egypte, predicts that Pompey's
Pillar will only be recognised in after ages as
the monument of the French; and for this
reason—that the names of the soldiers who fell
at the glorious storming of Alexandria were
engraved on the column by order of Napoleon
Bonaparte.

Since his return to England, the writer has
seen a copy of the work of Admiral Smyth to
which the officer of the Bengal Engineers
alluded. It contains the details of the well
known exploit in connexion with Pompey's
Pillar:

The magnificent column generally called Pompey's
Pillar was a severe puzzle, since no attention can be
given to the vague surmises which have been heaped
over its age, object, and story. Here however it is,
a standing wonder; for though the moving of so
stupendous a block of granite—the largest
monolithic column known in the world—from the quarries,
is within conjecture, yet the raising of it to the
perpendicular is a mechanical mystery—a mystery still
further involved in obscurity on recollecting that so
vast a mass stands upon a base little more than five
feet square, the whole weight having been discovered
to rest upon the fragment of an inverted obelisk.
The shaft—of the red granite termed Oriental—is in
the best style of taste and workmanship, and almost
everywhere preserves its original lustre; but the
capital, of a different granite, is without polish, and
comparatively inferior in taste.

The principal interest which I felt in the matter
sprang from an illusive vision, namely, that the
column might possibly have been a mark for the
north end of the famous degree of the meridian
measured by Eratosthenes, an effort as important
in astronomical and mathematical science, as the
Egyptian monuments themselves are in archaeology.
Under the influence of such a notion, and as many of
the points of the survey which I was carrying on
were of course perceivable from such an elevation, I
determined to carry up a theodolite, and reap a round
of angles from its summit. As every eye was upon
all our movements, I considered that the occasion
demanded the utmost smartness and promptitude of
which we were capable. Every preparatory arrangement
was therefore made, not only as regarded the
requisite materials, but also in stationing people to
the several subdivisions of the undertaking; and
both officers and men engaged in the task with
alacrity and cheerfulness.

In the first place, a pair of large paper kites were
made on board, and the necessary ropes and hawsers
carefully coiled into the boats; and when we were
all quite ready, I waited on the Basha to obtain his
permission for making the ascent. This, he kindly
assured me, I need not have asked; but as I was
about to plant marine sentinels on his ground, and
it was possible that the crews of the Turkish fleet
might prove unruly, I considered his sanction a