ABSTRACT
THE inspection of the registers of the taxes followed the levy and the departure of the troops. Psarou has taken part of the stuffs which the city pays into the treasury on account of its manufactures, and a portion of the arrears of the ordinary tax in grain st.ored in the royal granaries. He has embarked it all, and would be already on the road to Thebes if Nakhtminou had not requested the honour of retaining him as a guest for two or three days longer, and of giving him the pleasure of a chase in the desert. His favourite villa is situated on the north-east of the city, near the entrance of a wild valley, which leads straight to one of the districts of the mountain where game is most plentiful. The party leaves Apu early in the morning, and goes across the fields to avoid the long turns of the road; the beans are in :flower at this season, and the stems are so tall that men and beasts are almost hidden in the perfumed verdure. Beyond the beans the way lies through fields of dhoura and corn; then, after passing a few groups
of palm-trees, the riders cross the road, and a canal about fifteen yards wide lies before them, its stagnant water confined between two crumbling banks of clay.
