Page:H. D. Traill - From Cairo to the Soudan Frontier.djvu/105

Rh the worthy geographer more than suspected it to be a mere imposture of the priests designed to increase their hold on the superstition of the faithful.

"When I was at those places with Œlius Gallus, and numerous friends about him, I heard a noise (says he) at the first hour of the day, but whether proceeding from the base or from the Colossus, or produced on purpose by some of those standing round the base, I cannot confidently assert. But from the uncertainty of the cause I am disposed to believe anything rather than that stones disposed in that manner could send forth sound." To the modern man of science the morning song of the Memnon, when audible at all, which is very rarely the case, is a simple physical phenomenon, easily explicable in terms of force and matter. According to eminent physicists it is perfectly possible for a hard resonant stone, exposed to the sudden heat of the morning sun-rays following upon the cold Egyptian nights, to emit a sound.