﻿THE PRYAMIDS OF GIZEH. 87 



deep at every step into the sand, stretching away in mound and val- 

 ley interminably to the left; while flocks of plover, quails, ibises, 

 etc., rest upon the field on the right, or skim along the atmosphere. 

 The pyramids themselves, though towering above everything around, 

 do not disclose all their vastness, there being no object near by which 

 Jo judge, by comparison, of their magnitude. Before we approach 

 them, they seem quite near, quite at hand, and the intervening 

 space only a few minutes' ride. But let us go on another hour, and 

 though they certainly seem nearer, still they are yet a great way off, 

 Another hour the pyramids are close at hand; the sun occasion- 

 ally shines on them, and gilds their peaks ; and the shadows of pass- 

 ing clouds travel over them as over the face of a mountain. We 

 now meet a number of Bedouin Arabs, hastening towards us to offer 

 their services as guides. They are generally tall, muscular young 

 men, frequently handsome, and they all appear good-humored and 

 lively. 



The vast pyramids are erected upon a rocky eminence, which rises 

 about one Hundred feet above the level of the Egyptian plain. By 

 the action of the west winds, it has been covered with sandy mounds, 

 various in form and height, which cause it to appear rugged and in 

 conformity with our ideas of the Lybian waste. When we have 

 gained the summit of this height, and cleared the hillocks which at 

 first obstruct our view, all the sublimity of the pyramids bursts at 

 once upon us. The tallest of our party, standing at their base, is 

 scarcely as high as one layer of the stones ; and when we draw near 

 and behold the mighty basis the vast breadth, the prodigious 

 solidity, the steep acclivity of the sides, misleading the eye, which 

 appears to discover the summit among the clouds, whilst the kite 

 and the eagle, wheeling round and round, far, far aloft, are not yet as 

 high as the top we are compelled to acknowledge the justice of 

 the popular opinion, which enumerates these majestic structures 

 among the wonders of the world. 



The height of the greatest pyramid is four hundred and sixty 

 feet, being nearly sixty feet higher than the summit of St. Paul's 

 cathedral, in London. It consists of successive tiers of vast blocks 

 of stone, rising above each other in the form of steps. The thick- 

 ness of these layers varies, and as you ascend the height of the steps 



