656 The Mummies at the [Dec. 



alone at night-time among the dwellings of the dead — an association of 

 horror and apprehension — I liastily departed from the spot. My young 

 companion had already disappeared — fear had lent him wings — he had 

 reached the gate ; and the terror he experienced was so great that, when 

 he arrived at his dwelling, in the Rue Verte, about a quarter of a mile 

 distant, he fell at the door in a state of insensibility. The poor youth 

 was confined for several weeks to his bed, and his mind had been so 

 completely disturbed by excessive fright, that he never after recovered 

 the entire use of his senses. A few years afterwards he put a period to his 

 existence by shooting himself through the heart. I communicated the 

 extraordinary circumstance — it then appeared so — to several of my 

 English friends ; and it was resolved that we should proceed in a body, 

 and unravel the mystery. Accordingly, half a dozen detenus, among 

 whom were General IVIurray, IMr. Ramsay, and ]Mr. Sayer, repaired to 

 the Convent of the White Friars, taking with us several implements to 

 raise the covering of the sepulchre : fire-arms, and a lantern, we were 

 also provided with. The stone, about five feet square, was easily re- 

 moved, and proved, as I conjectured, a covering to the vault, in which 

 the remains of the White Friars were deposited. We descended into the 

 interior by a narrow stone stair-case. With the aid of our lantern, we 

 found it to be a large chamber, twenty-two feet square, the elevation 

 about fourteen. On one side was a marble altar, upon which were placed 

 six candlesticks of the same material : the Avax tapers seemed to have 

 been just placed in them, and a fine, well-carved crucifix of gilt brass 

 surmounted the altar: the floor was inhiid with various coloured marble. 

 The place was perfectly clean, and had more the appearance of a small, 

 neat chapel than a repository for the dead. Looking towards the arched 

 roof, we perceived, at one of the corners of the entrance, a bell, perhaps 

 four inches in diameter, suspended to a flexible steel spring : at the end 

 of it was a green silk rope, and was probably rung when the monks cele- 

 brated mass. 



The sound which caused so much alarm on the preceding day was 

 now accounted for — a small piece of stone must have fallen upon the bell 

 when we were removing the covering of the sepulchre. The mystery 

 was cleared up. IMost of those supernatural sounds, said to be some- 

 times heard in the dwellings of the dead, might, if properly investigated, 

 be explained in as satisfactory a manner. Several black lines, three feet 

 apart, were traced upon the four walls of the vault: these lines were 

 intersected by others, forming small squares ; those which were open 

 looked like small ovens ; they had not yet received tenants ; but there 

 were a great many bricked up, and covered with a hard white cement, 

 upon which were engraved the name, age, and date of the friar's decease. 

 No other inscription was to be seen. One of them, however, bore the 

 representation of a smail flower, and underneath were these words, " Ne 

 m'oubliez pas ;" and then, " Padre Ottomano, Mt . 57 : Ob : 5 Jun : 

 1700." With an iron crow we broke through the brick- work that closed 

 the entrance ; and on an oak plank, which served in lieu of a coffin, we 

 discovered the body of the Ottoman Father, clothed in the costume of 

 the order ; and, on withdrawing it from the tomb, we found it to be in a 

 perfect state of preservation ; the hair, beard, and countenance, were as 

 if the person had only just expired. The nails, which were a quarter of 

 an inch in length, seemed to have grown after death. The features had 

 shrunk a little ; or the meagre appearance was, perhaps, occasioned by 





