440 
observations, in which I am obliged 
to differ from those who have gone 
before me. ; 
The pyramids stand upon the 
first hill between Cairo and the 
western bank of the Nile. In go- 
ing thither from Geesh, we passa 
considerable arm of that river, over 
two beautiful bridges, consisting 
each of ten arches. Between the 
two bridges is a long dyke, of sub- 
stantial mason-work. Several tra- 
vellers represent the bridges as 
works of the ancients. But the 
Arabic inscriptions upon them, 
prove them to have been built by 
the Mahometans. 
The traveller is astonished, and 
feels his imagination in some mea- 
sure expanded, when he arrives at 
the foot of those prodigious masses. 
It is from this circumstance, I sup- 
pose, that the pyramids are thought 
much bigher, on a first view, than 
they actually are. My first care was 
to measure them. This I performed 
with all the exactness possible, a- 
mongst a crowd of jealous and 
troublesome Arabs, by whom I was 
surrounded ; and found the largest 
and foremost pyramid to be four 
hundred and forty feet. I was sur- 
prised to find the result of my mea- 
surement so different from what 
many otlter travellers bad given out 
to be the height of this pyramid; 
and was for some time uneasy about 
communicating it to the public. 
Upon my return to Europe, I 
found in the Description of the 
Plains of Heliopolis and Memphis, — 
by Mr. Fourmont, the following 
passage: ‘‘ Lord Charlemont, who 
arrived in Egypt while I was there, 
told me, that he had measured the 
height of the foremost pyramid, and 
assured me, that it was only four 
hundred and forty-four feet.” The 
agreement of this measurement 
with my own, rendered me less 
ANNUAL REGISTER, 
1792. 
doubtful of the correctness-of my 
operations. Veta 
_ Those enormous masses are built 
of soft calcareous stone, of the same 
nature as the rock on which they 
stand. It is presumeable, then, that 
all the polished stone has been taken 
from the same place, and wrought 
at small expence. The fondness 
for the marvellous, therefore, so 
common to travellers, has caused 
them to magnify the expence and 
labour which those mountains of 
hewn stone must have cost. With 
the help of natural philosophy and 
natural history, wonders of all kinds 
are reduced to their true value. 
To enhance the high ideas which 
they hold out of the magnificence 
of those monuments, various wri- 
ters represent the pyramids as havy- 
ing been once coated upon the out- 
side with marble. But of this, I 
could not, by any pains, discover 
the slightest vestige. Beside the 
third pyramid, indeed, some pieces 
of granite are to be seen; but these 
are neither large nor numerous 
enough to afford reason for sup- 
posing, that even one pyramid 
could be covered with them. Those 
blocks might perhaps serve as orna- 
ments, and might possibly bear the 
inscriptions, of which none are, at 
present, discernible on the pyra- 
mids, | 
I entered the foremost pyramid, 
and examined the large chamber, 
with the coffer in it, of which all 
travellers speak. But I did not 
see the second chamber, which was 
discovered immediately after our 
departure, by Mr. Davidson, who 
had accompanied Mr Montague in- 
to Egypt. That chamber is thirty 
feet above the first, and as large, but 
not so lofty in the. roof. jai 
The famous Sphinx is sinking 
still deeper in the sand ; and a great 
part of the body is already buried. 
It 
