On tJie Pyramids of Egyfjf. 197 



The stones of the platform upon the top, as well as most of 

 the others used in constructing the decreasing ranges from the 

 base upwards, are of soft limestone ; a little harder, and more 

 compact, than what some of the English masons vulgarly call 

 cluiicli ; whereof King's College Chapel at Cambridge, and great 

 pajt of Ely Cathedral, are built. It is of a grayish-white colour, 

 and has this remarkable property, that, when broken by a smart 

 blow with a hammer, it exhales the fetid odour common to the 

 dark limestone of the Dead sea, and of many other places. 



It is now very generally admitted, that the stones are of 



the same nature as the calcareous rock whereon they stand, and 

 that tliis was cut away in order to form them As we de- 

 scended from the summit, we found mortar in all the seams of the 

 different layers upon the outside of the pyramid ; but no such 

 appearance could be discerned in the more perfect masonry of 

 the interior. The mortar is of a coarse kind, and contains mi- 

 nute fragments of terra colta 



The French had been very assiduous in their researches among 

 these buildings. They even attempted to open the smallest of 

 the three pyramids; and, having effected a very considerable 

 chasm in one of its sides, have left this mark behind them, as an 

 everlasting testimony of their curiosity and zeal. The landing 

 of our army put a stop to their labour ; but for this, the interior 

 of that mysterious monument would probably be now submitted 

 to the inquiry which has long been an object among literary 

 men. 



..... .Having collected our party upon a sort of platform be- 

 fore the entrance of the passage leading to the interior, and 

 lighteil a number of tapers, we all descended into its dark mouth. 

 The impression made upon every one of us, in viewing the en- 

 trance, was this ; that no set of men whatever could have thus 

 opened a passage, bv uncovering precisely the part of the py- 

 ramid where the entrance was concealed, unless they had been 

 previously accjuainted with its situation ; and for these reasons : 

 first, because its position is ahaost hi the centre of one of its 

 planes, instead of being at the base. Secondly, that not a trace 

 aj)pears of those dilapidations which must have been the result 

 of anv random search for a passage to the interior ; such as now 

 distingiiish the labours of the French upon the smaller pyramid, 

 which they attempted to open. The persons who undertook the 

 work, actually opened tlie pyramid in the only point, over all its 

 vast surface, where, from the appearance of the stones inclined 

 to each other al)ove the mouth of the passage, any admission to 



the interior seems to have been originally intended Strabo 



descri!)cs not only the exact position of the mouth of the pyra- 

 mid, but even the nature of the piissage leading to the 6)^x7), or 



M 3 Soros f 



