CHAPTER XVII.
AN AUDIENCE OF AMENOPHIS II.
King Amenophis II.

has resumed his receptions, which he found himself obliged to suspend for three thousand, three hundred and some odd years, by reason of his decease.

They are very well attended; court dress is not insisted upon, and the Grand Master of ceremonies is not above taking a tip.

He holds them every morning in the winter from eight o'clock, in the bowels of a mountain in the desert of Libya; and if he rests himself during the remainder of the day it is only because, as soon as midday sounds, they turn off the electric light.
Happy Amenophis! Out of so many kings who tried so hard to hide for ever their mummies in the depths of impenetrable caverns he is the only one who has been left in his tomb.

And he "makes the most of it" every time he opens his funeral salons.
***** It is important to arrive before midday at the dwelling of this Pharaoh, and at eight o'clock sharp, therefore, on a clear February morning, I set out from Luxor, where for many days my dahabiya had slumbered against the bank of the Nile.