SUBTERRANEOUS PASSAGES. 



bling the nave of an old cathedral, having its roof supported by- 

 three or four very large Gothic arches, of which those in the 

 middle of the area are sometimes two and three feet high ; but 

 as they recede on each side, rapidly diminish, like the arches of 

 aisles in perspective. A flattisu ro^f. without perforation, in 

 order to keep out the wet, if the dome snould chance to be 

 injured, covers the top of the assemblage of chambers, nurseries, 

 &c. ; and the area, which is above the royal chambers, has a flat- 

 tish floor, also water-proof, and so contrived as to let any rain 

 that may chance to get in, run off into the subterraneous pas- 

 sages which run from the basement of the lower apartments 

 through the hill in various directions ; and one of astonishing 

 magnitude, often having a bore greater than that of a large piece 

 of ordnance, Smeathman measured the diameter of one of 

 these passages, which was perfectly cylindrical, and found it to 

 be thirteen inches. 



39. These subterraneous passages, or galleries, are lined very 

 thick with the same kind of clay of which the hill is composed, and 

 ascend the inside of the outer shell in a spiral manner, and 

 winding round the whole building, up to the top, intersect each 

 other at different heights, opening either immediately into the 

 dome in various places, and into the interior building, the 

 new turrets, &c., or communicating thereto by other galleries of 

 different bores or diameter, either circular or oval. 



From every part of these large galleries are various small 

 tunnels or galleries, leading to different parts of the building. 

 Under ground there are many which lead downward, by sloping 

 descents, three or four feet perpendicular, among the gravel, 

 from whence the workers cull the finer parts, which, being 

 worked up in their mouths to the consistence of mortar, become 

 that solid clay of which their hills and all their buildings, except 

 their nurseries, are composed. 



40. Other galleries again ascend, and lead out horizontally on 

 every side, and are carried under ground, near to the surface, to 

 a vast distance : for if you destroy all the nests within one 

 hundred yards of your house, the inhabitants of those which are 

 left unmolested farther off will, nevertheless, carry on their 

 subterraneous galleries, and invade the goods and merchandises 

 contained in it by sap and mine, and do great mischief, if you 

 are not very circumspect. 



41. But to return to the cities from whence these extraordinary 

 expeditions and operations originate, it seems there is a degree 

 of necessity for the galleries under the hills being thus large, 

 being the great thoroughfares for all the labourers and soldiers 

 going forth or returning upon any business whatever, whether 



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