sarcophagus, which I strongly expected to see in the same situation as that in the first Pyramid; but I was disappointed when I saw nothing there. The chamber has a pointed or sloping ceiling, and many of the stones had been removed from their places evidently by some one in search of treasure. On my advancing towards the west end, I was agreeably surprised to find that there was a sarcophagus buried on a lovel with the floor."

Upon examining more minutely the chamber into which he had entered, he found it to be forty-six feet in length, sixteen fect three inches wide, and twenty-three feet six inches high. It is hewn out of the solid rock from the floor to the roof, which last is composed of large slabs of calcareous stone, meeting in the centre at an angle corresponding to that of the Pyramid itself. The sarcophagus is eight feet long, three feet six inches wide, and two feet three inches deep in the inside. It is surrounded by large blocks of granite, apparently to prevent its removal, which could not be effected without great labour. The lid had been drawn to one side; so that the receptacle, be it fount or grave, was half open. It is manufactured of the very finest granite; but, like the other in the Pyramid of Cheops, it presents not a single hieroglyphic. Inspecting the inside solely with the view of finding some inscription which would throw light on the history and intention of this mighty edifice, he did not at first observe that there were bones mixed with the sand and gravel which it contained. These fragments of an animal body, being afterward sent to London, were ascertained to belong to the bovine species, and have been very generally supposed to be the remains of a sacred bull, an object of veneration among the ancient Egyptians. On the sides of the chamber, which were carefully examined, Mr. Belzoni observed many scrawls executed with charcoal; all of which, however, were in a character quite unknown to him, and already become so faint that they were in some places nearly illegible, and rubbed off on the slightest touch.

On the wall at the west end of the chamber he perceived an inscription, which has been translated as follows:"The Master Mohammed Ahmed, lapicide, has opened them; and the Master Othman attended this (opening), and

the King Ali Mohammed, from the beginning to the closing

up."

Mr. Belzoni admits that the letters were far from being distinct. The transcriber was a Copt, whom he induced to go from Cairo for the purpose, not having sufficient confidence in his own pen. He adds, however, that not being satisfied with his protestations of accuracy, though the inscription was copied under his own eyes, he invited other persons, who were esteemed the best Arabic scholars in the country, to lend their aid, and particularly to compare the transcript with the original on the wall. They found it all perfectly correct and intelligible, except the concluding word, which was acknowledged to be obscure; but, says he, if it be considered how much that word resembles the right one, we shall find a good sense, and the whole inscription made out. The circumstance, too, supposed to be here recorded, that the Pyramid was closed up after having been opened by the agents of King Ali Mohammed,-corresponds exactly to the facts of the case, and affords a strong corroboration of the conjectural emendation proposed by the translator.

It is remarkable that in this Pyramid, as well as in the larger one, there is a pit or shaft which descends to a lower part of the building. At the bottom of this opening there were so many stones as nearly to choke up its entrance; but, after removing these, Mr. Belzoni found the passage running towards the north, as formerly, at an angle of twenty-six degrees. It continued in this direction, and with the same slope downwards, forty-eight feet and a half, where it joined a horizontal passage fifty-five feet in length, still running north. Half-way up this avenue on the right is a recess eleven feet long and six deep. On the left, opposite to it, is another entry twenty-two feet in length, with a descent of twenty-six degrees towards the west. Before he proceeded any farther northwards, he went down this passage, where he found a chamber thirty-two feet long, nine feet nine inches wide, and eight feet six inches in height. This apartment contains many small blocks of stone, some

This is the version of Mr. Salame, who says, "The Arabic to which I gave the meaning of these last words 'to the closing up' is not spelled correctly in the paper I saw,-a fault which I attribute to the transcriber from the stone,"

not more than two feet in length. It has a pointed roof like that before mentioned, though it is cut out of the solid rock. On the walls and ceiling are some unknown inscriptions similar to those in the upper chamber.

Reascending to the horizontal passage, he discovered at the end of it a portcullis, which must have originally possessed the same construction as the one already described; but the plate of granite which had served as a door was taken down, and is still to be seen under the rubbish which encumbers the approach. Beyond this point he entered into a lane which runs forty-eight feet in a direction parallel to the one above, and, in fact, appears to issue from the Pyramid near its base. If this supposition be well founded, it will follow that the monument of Cephrenes has two entrances, an inference, we presume, which might be extended to that of Cheops, where there are several passages without any outlet hitherto discovered. The immense mass of broken stones and sand which surrounds the foundation of the larger edifice has all along prevented such a minute examination of its lower parts as might have enabled the scientific antiquary to connect the internal structure with the general plan and uses of the building. Hence it is extremely probable that apertures will be found in all the four sides conducting to the centre, at different angles of inclination, and establishing a communication among the various chambers which the Pyramids contain.

After these details, it is impossible to refrain from an expression of admiration so justly due to the perseverance and ability of Mr. Belzoni. It was truly observed by Mr. Salt, that the opening of this Pyramid had long been considered an object of so hopeless a nature that it is difficult to conceive how any person could be found sanguine enough to make the attempt; and, even after the laborious discovery of the forced entrance, it required great resolution and confidence in his own views to induce him to continue the operation, when it became evident that the enterprise of his predecessors, possessed of greater means, had completely failed. Of the discovery itself Belzoni has given a very clear description, and his drawings present a perfect idea of the entrances, passages, and chambers. Of the labour of the undertaking no one can form an idea. Notwithstanding the masses of stone which he had to remove, and

It is in like manner recorded by Abdollatiph that when Melec-Alaziz-Othman-ben-Yousouf succeeded his father, he allowed himself to be persuaded by some foolish courtiers to throw down the Pyramids, and that he sent thither sappers, miners, and quarriers, under the direction of proper officers, with orders to overturn the red one, that, namely, ascribed to Mycerinus, and which is known to have been coated with highly-coloured granite. To execute the instructions with which they were charged, they encamped on the adjoining ground, and collected a great number of labourers, whom they maintained at an enormous expense. There they remained eight whole months, exerting themselves to the utmost in order to fulfil their commission; but their most strenuous endeavours with picks and levers above, and with ropes and cables below, could not remove more than one or two stones a-day. When a block was thrown down, there was the additional labour of breaking it into fragments and carrying it aside; and one of the engineers is reported to have said, that, although he were to get ten thousand pieces of gold, he could not readjust one of these stones in its proper place. At length they abandoned the attempt, without demolishing the magnificent structure, or even, as the historian thinks, without materially reducing its dimensions. The date of this barbarous project is usually placed about the end of the twelfth century.

Several other caliphs are named by Makrisi and Abdollatiph as having meditated the demolition of these great works. Saladin, for example, charged his emir, Karakoush Asadi, to build the citadel and walls of Cairo, instructing him, at the same time, to consider Memphis and the Pyramids as the most suitable quarry for obtaining materials. Hence, it is conjectured, the coating of the large edifice of Cheops, two-thirds of that of Cephrenes, and the greater part of some of the smaller ones, have been carried away, and can now only be sought for in the immense causeway, and the innumerable arches which he constructed between these monuments and the Nile, or in the citadel, the mosques, and the battlements of the capital. The remains of this causeway are still to be seen; the finer portion of it, however, that was upon the lower ground, has been swept away by the overflowing of the Nile. Some authors have supposed it to be the relics of the great road