4^1- HISTOKY OK 



Upon coming to a little square opening, of about eijlitpon fcrt 

 in depth, they descend into it by holes for the feet, placed at 

 proper intervals, and there they are sure of finding what th^y 

 seek for. These caves, or wells, as tlicy c;ill them, nre liol- 

 Jowe.i out of a white free- stone, which is found in all this conn- 

 try, a few feet below the covering of sand. When one j.i-pts to 

 t!ie bottom of these, which are sometimes forty feet below the 

 surface, there are several square openings on each side, into 

 passages of ten or fifteen feet wide, and these lead to chambers 

 of fifteen or twenty feet square. These are all hewn out of the 

 rock ; and in each of the catacombs are to be found several of 

 these apartments, communicating with e.ach other. They ex- 

 tend a great way under ground, so as to be under the city of 

 Memphis, and in a manner to undermine its environs. 



In some of the chambers, the walls are adorned with figures 

 and hieroglyphics; in others, the mummies are found in tombs 

 round the apartment hollowed out in the rock. These tombs 

 are upright, and cut into the shape of a man, with his arms 

 stretched out. There are others found, and these in the grent- 

 est number, in wooden coffins, or in cloths covered with bitumen. 

 These coffins, or wrappers, are covered all over with a variety of 

 ornaments. There are some of them painted, and adorned with 

 figures, such as that of Death, and the leaden seals, on which 

 several characters are engraven. Some of these coffins are 

 carved into the human shape ; but the head alone is distinguish- 

 able : the rest of the body is all of a piece, and terminated by a 

 pedestal, while there are some with their arms hanging down ; 

 and it is by these marks that the bodies of persons of rank are 

 <iistirignished from those of the meaner order. These are gene- 

 rally found lying on the floor, without any profusion of orna- 

 ments ; and in some chambers the mummies are found indis- 

 mminateiy piled upon each other, and buried in the sand. 



Many mummies are found lying on their backs ; their heads 

 tuined to the north, and their hands placed on the belly. The 

 baiids of linen, with which these were swathed, are found to 

 be more than a thousand yards long ; and, of consequence, 

 the number of circumvolutions they make about the body 

 must have been amaang. These were performed by beginning 

 ttt the head, and ending at the feet ; but they contrived it so as 

 to avoid covering the face. However, when the face is entirely 



