[Illustration:  278.jpg HIRKHUF RECEIVING POSTHUMOUS HOMAGE AT THE DOOR OF HIS TOMB FROM HIS SON]

     Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph, taken in 1892, by
     Alexander Gayet.

He was even fortunate enough to acquire a Danga from the land of ghosts, resembling the one brought from Puanit by Biurdidi in the reign of Assi eighty years before.  Metesouphis, in the mean time, had died, and his young brother and successor, Papi II., had already been a year upon the throne.  The new king, delighted to possess a dwarf who could perform “the dance of the god,” addressed a rescript to Hirkhuf to express his satisfaction; at the same time he sent him a special messenger, Uni, a distant relative to Papi I.’s minister, who was to invite him to come and give an account of his expedition.  The boat in which the explorer embarked to go down to Memphis, also brought the Danga, and from that moment the latter became the most important personage of the party.  For him all the royal officials, lords, and sacerdotal colleges hastened to prepare provisions and means of conveyance; his health was of greater importance than that of his protector, and he was anxiously watched lest he should escape.  “When he is with thee in the boat, let there be cautious persons about him, lest he should fall into the water; when he rests during the night, let careful people sleep beside him, in case of his escaping quickly in the night-time.  For my Majesty desires to see this dwarf more than all the treasures which are being imported from the land of Puanit.”  Hirkhuf, on his return to Elephantine, engraved the royal letter and the detailed account of his journeys to the lands of the south, on the facade of his tomb.

These repeated expeditions produced in course of time more important and permanent results than the capture of an accomplished dwarf, or the acquisition of a fortune by an adventurous nobleman.  The nations which these merchants visited were accustomed to hear so much of Egypt, its industries, and its military force, that they came at last to entertain an admiration and respect for her, not unmingled with fear:  they learned to look upon her as a power superior to all others, and upon her king as a god whom none might resist.  They adopted Egyptian worship, yielded to Egypt their homage, and sent the Egyptians presents:  they were won over by civilization before being subdued by arms.  We are not acquainted with the manner in which Nofirkiri-Papi II. turned these friendly dispositions to good account in extending his empire to the south.  The expeditions did not all prove so successful as that of Hirkhuf, and one at least of the princes of Elephantine, Papinakhiti, met with his death in the course of one of them.  Papi II. had sent him on a mission, after several others, “to make profit out of the Uauaiu and the Iritit.”  He killed considerable numbers in this raid, and brought back great spoil, which he shared with Pharaoh; “for