to his memory by erasing his name wherever it occurred on the monuments, and substituting for it either her own name or that of her father.  She appears also at the same time to have taken full possession of the throne, and to have been accepted as actual sovereign of the Egyptian people.  She calls herself “The living Horus, abounding in divine gifts, the mistress of diadems, rich in years, the golden Horus, goddess of diadems, Queen of Upper and Lower Egypt, daughter of the Sun, consort of Ammon, living for ever, and daughter of Ammon, dwelling in his heart.”  Nor was she content with attributes which made acknowledgment of her sex.  She wished to be regarded as a man, assumed male apparel and an artificial beard, and gave herself on many of her monuments the style and title of a king.  Her name of Hatasu she changed into Hatasu-Khnum-Ammon, thus identifying herself with two of the chief Egyptian gods.  She often represented herself as crowned with the tall plumes of Ammon.  She took the titles of “son of the sun,” “the good god,” “lord of the two lands,” “beloved of Ammon, the protector of kings.”  A curious anomaly appears in some of her inscriptions, where masculine and feminine forms are inextricably mixed up; though spoken of consistently as “the king,” and not “the queen,” yet the personal and possessive pronouns which refer to her are feminine for the most part, while sometimes such perplexing expressions occur as “le roi qui est bien aimee par Ammon,” or “His Majesty herself.”

[Illustration:  EGYPTIAN SHIP IN THE TIME OF HATASU.]

The legal position which Hatasu occupied during the sixteen years that followed the death of Thothmes II. was probably that of regent for Thothmes III., his (and her) younger brother; but practically she was full sovereign of Egypt.  It was now that she formed her grand schemes of foreign commerce, and had them carried out by her officers.  First of all, she caused to be built, in some harbour on the western coast of the Red Sea, a fleet of ships, certainly not fewer than five, each constructed so as to be propelled both by oars and sails, and each capable of accommodating some sixty or seventy passengers.  Of these thirty were the rowers, whose long sweeps were to plough the waves, and bring the vessels into port, whether the wind were favourable or no; some ten or twelve formed the crew; and the remainder consisted of men-at-arms, whose services, it was felt, might be required, if the native tribes were not sufficiently impressed with the advantages of commercial dealings.  An expedition then started from Thebes under the conduct of a royal ambassador, who was well furnished with gifts for distribution among the barbarian chiefs, and instructed to proceed with his fleet down the Red Sea to its mouth, or perhaps even further, and open communications with the land of “Punt,” which was in this quarter.  “Punt” has been generally identified with Southern Arabia,